NEUOFFENBARUNG← Secrets of Heaven · Volume 1 · Contents
961. Some persons from habit, and some from contempt, make use in familiar conversation of the things contained in Holy Scripture as an aid or formula for joking and ridicule, thinking thus to give point thereto. But such things of Scripture when thus thought and spoken add themselves to their corporeal and filthy ideas, and in the other life bring upon them much harm; for they return together with the profane things. These persons also undergo the punishment of discerption, until they become disused to such things.
962. There is also a penalty of discerption in respect to the thoughts, so that the interior thoughts fight with the exterior, which is attended with interior torment.
963. Among punishments a frequent one consists in the throwing over the sufferers of a veil, and is as follows. By means of phantasies that are impressed on them the sufferers seem to themselves to be under a veil that is stretched out to a great distance. It is like a closely clinging cloud that increases in density in proportion to the phantasy, and under which, incited by the desire to burst out of it, they run hither and thither at various rates of speed, until they are wearied out. This usually lasts for the space of an hour, more or less, and is attended with different degrees of torment in proportion to the degree of the desire for extrication. The veil is for those who although they see the truth, yet under the influence of the love of self are unwilling to acknowledge it, and feel constant indignation that the truth should be so. When under the veil some feel such anxiety and terror that they despair of the possibility of their deliverance, as I was informed by one who had himself been delivered from it.
964. There is an additional kind of veil in which the sufferers are wrapped up as it were in a cloth, so that they seem to themselves to be bound in hand, in foot, and in body, and there is injected into them a burning desire to unwrap themselves. As the sufferer has been wrapped round only once, he supposes that he will easily be unwrapped, but when he begins to unwrap himself the veil increases in length, and the unwrapping goes on without end, until he despairs.
965. These things relate to the hells and to penalties. Infernal torments are not the stings of conscience, as some suppose, for those who are in hell have had no conscience, and therefore cannot suffer torment of conscience. Those who have had conscience are among the happy.
966. It is to be observed that in the other life no one undergoes any punishment and torture on account of his hereditary evil, but only on account of the actual evils which he himself has committed.
967. When the evil are being punished, angels are always present who moderate the punishment and alleviate the pains of the sufferers, but cannot take them away. For there is such an equilibrium of all things in the other life that evil punishes itself, and unless it could be taken away by means of punishment, those in whom it exists could not but be kept in some hell to eternity, for they would otherwise infest the societies of the good, and offer violence to the order instituted by the Lord, wherein lies the safety of the universe.
968. Certain spirits had brought with them from the world the idea that they must not speak with the devil, but flee from him. But they were instructed that it would do no harm at all to those whom the Lord protects, even if they should be encompassed by all hell, both within and without. This it has been given me to know by much and by marvelous experience, so that at length I came to have no fear of even the worst of the infernal crew, to hinder my speaking with them; and this was granted in order that I might become acquainted with their character. To those who have wondered that I spoke with them, I have been permitted to say not only that this would do me no harm, but also that the devils in the other life are such as have been men, and who when they lived in the world passed their life in hatred, revenge, and adultery, some of them being then preeminently esteemed; nay, that among them are some I had known in the bodily life; and that the devil means nothing else than such a crew of hell. And furthermore, that men, while they live in the body, have with them at least two spirits from hell, as well as two angels from heaven; and that these infernal spirits rule with the evil, but with the good have been subjugated and are compelled to serve. Thus it is false to suppose that there has been a devil from the beginning of creation, other than such as were once men. When they heard these things they were amazed, and confessed that they had held a totally different opinion in regard to the devil and the diabolical crew.
969. In so great a kingdom, where all the souls of men from the first creation flock together, from this earth alone nearly a million coming every week, and each person among them all having his own individual genius and nature; and where there is a communication of all the ideas of everyone; and where notwithstanding all this, all things both in general and in particular must be reduced into order, and this continually; it cannot be but that numberless things exist there which have never entered into the idea of man. And as in relation to hell, as well as in relation to heaven, scarcely anyone has conceived more than one single obscure idea, it cannot be but that these things will appear strange and wonderful, especially from the fact that men suppose spirits to have no sense of feeling, although the truth is that they feel more exquisitely than do men, and what is more have induced on them by evil spirits, by artifices unknown in this world, a sense of feeling almost like that of the body, but much more gross.
970. The subject of Vastations will follow on at the end of this chapter.
CHAPTER 9.
1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
2. And let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of heaven; even to everything that the ground maketh to creep forth, and to all the fishes of the sea, into your hands let them be given.
3. Every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the esculent herb [olus herbae] have I given it all to you.
4. Only the flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
5. And surely your blood with your souls will I require; at the hand of every wild beast will I require it; and at the hand of man [homo], even at the hand of the man [vir] his brother, will I require the soul of man [homo].
6. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood in man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God made He man.
7. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein.
8. And God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9. And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10. And with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth.
11. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth.
12. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living soul that is with you, for the generations of an age:
13. I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
15. And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living soul of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will see it, that I may remember the eternal covenant between God and every living soul of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17. And God said unto Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
* * * * * * * *
18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these was the whole earth overspread.
20. And Noah began to be a man of the ground, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine and was drunken; and he was uncovered in the midst of his tent.
22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon their shoulders, both of them, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.
26. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27. May God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
971. THE CONTENTS
The subject that now follows on is the state of the regenerate man; first, concerning the dominion of the internal man, and the submission of the external.
972. Namely, that all things of the external man have been made subject to and serviceable to the internal (verses 1 to 3), but that especial care must be taken lest the man should immerse the goods and truths of faith in cupidities, or by the goods and truths which are of the internal man should confirm evils and falsities, which must of necessity condemn him to death, and punish him (verses 4 and 5); and thus destroy the spiritual man, or the image of God, with him (verse 6). That if these things are avoided, all will go well (verse 7).
973. It next treats of the state of man after the flood, whom the Lord had so formed that He might be present with him by means of charity, and thus prevent his perishing, like the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church (verses 8 to 11).
974. Afterwards the state of man subsequent to the flood, who is in the capacity to receive charity, is described by the “bow in the cloud” which he resembles (verses 12 to 17). This “bow” has regard to the man of the church, or the regenerate man (verses 12, 13); to every man in general (verses 14, 15); specifically, to the man who is in the capacity of being regenerated (verse 16); and consequently not only to man within but also to man without the church (verse 17).
975. It treats lastly of the Ancient Church in general; by “Shem” is meant internal worship; by “Japheth” corresponding external worship; by “Ham” faith separated from charity; and by “Canaan” external worship separated from internal (from verse 19 to the end). This church, through the desire to investigate from itself the truths of faith, and by reasonings, first lapsed into errors and perversions (verses 19 to 21). Those who are in external worship separated from internal, deride the doctrine of faith itself, in consequence of such errors and perversions (verse 22); but those who are in internal worship, and in the external worship thence derived, put a good interpretation on such things, and excuse them (verse 23). Those who are in external worship separated from internal, are most vile (verses 24, 25); and yet they are able to perform vile services in the church (verses 26, 27).
976. Lastly, the duration and state of the first Ancient Church are described by the years of Noah’s age (verses 28, 29).
977. THE INTERNAL SENSE
As the subject here treated of is the regenerate man, a few words shall be said about what he is relatively to the unregenerate man, for in this way both will be apprehended. With the regenerate man there is a conscience of what is good and true, and he does good and thinks truth from conscience; the good which he does being the good of charity, and the truth which he thinks being the truth of faith. The unregenerate man has no conscience, or if any, it is not a conscience of doing good from charity, and of thinking truth from faith, but is based on some love that regards himself or the world, wherefore it is a spurious or false conscience. With the regenerate man there is joy when he acts according to conscience, and anxiety when he is forced to do or think contrary to it; but it is not so with the unregenerate, for very many such men do not know what conscience is, much less what it is to do anything either according or contrary to it, but only what it is to do the things that favor their loves. This is what gives them joy, and when they do what is contrary to their loves, this is what gives them anxiety. With the regenerate man there is a new will and a new understanding, and this new will and new understanding are his conscience, that is, they are in his conscience, and through this the Lord works the good of charity and the truth of faith. With an unregenerate man there is not will, but instead of will there is cupidity, and a consequent proneness to every evil; neither is there understanding, but mere reasoning and a consequent falling away to every falsity. With the regenerate man there is celestial and spiritual life; but with the unregenerate man there is only corporeal and worldly life, and his ability to think and understand what is good and true is from the Lord’s life through the remains before spoken of, and it is from this that he has the faculty of reflecting. With the regenerate the internal man has the dominion, the external being obedient and submissive; but with the unregenerate the external man rules, the internal being quiescent, as if it had no existence. The regenerate man knows, or has a capacity of knowing on reflection, what the internal man is, and what the external; but of these the unregenerate man is altogether ignorant, nor can he know them even if he reflects, since he is unacquainted with the good and truth of faith originating in charity. Hence may be seen what is the quality of the regenerate, and what of the unregenerate man, and that they differ from each other like summer and winter, and light and darkness; wherefore the regenerate is a living, but the unregenerate a dead man.
978. What the internal man is, and what the external, is at this day known to few, if any. It is generally supposed that they are one and the same, and this chiefly because men believe that they do good, and think truth from what is their own, for it is the nature of man’s Own to believe this; whereas the internal man is as distinct from the external as heaven is from earth. Both the learned and the unlearned, when reflecting on the subject, have no other conception respecting the internal man than its being thought, because it is within; and of the external man that it is the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, because this is without. Thought, however, which is thus ascribed to the internal man, does not belong thereto; for in the internal man there are nothing but goods and truths which are the Lord’s, and in the interior man conscience has been implanted by the Lord; and yet the evil, and even the worst of men, have thought, and so have those who are devoid of conscience, which shows that man’s thought does not belong to the internal, but to the external man. That the body, with its life of sense and pleasure, is not the external man, is evident from the fact that spirits equally possess an external man, although they have no such body as they had during their life in this world. But what the internal man is, and what the external, no one can possibly know unless he knows that there is in every man a celestial and a spiritual that correspond to the angelic heaven, a rational that corresponds to the heaven of angelic spirits, and an interior sensuous that corresponds to the heaven of spirits. For there are three heavens, and as many in man, which are most perfectly distinct from each other; and hence it is that after death the man who has conscience is first in the heaven of spirits, afterwards is elevated by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits, and lastly into the angelic heaven, which could not possibly take place unless there were in him as many heavens, with which and with the state of which he has the capacity of corresponding. From this I have learned what constitutes the internal, and what the external man. The internal man is formed of what is celestial and spiritual; the interior or intermediate man, of what is rational; and the external man of what is sensuous, not belonging to the body, but derived from bodily things; and this is the case not only with man, but also with spirits. To speak in the language of the learned, these three, the internal, the interior, and the external man, are like end, cause, and effect; and it is well known that there can be no effect without a cause, and no cause without an end. Effect, cause, and end, are as distinct from each other as are what is exterior, what is interior, and what is inmost. Strictly speaking, the sensuous man-or he whose thought is grounded in sensuous things-is the external man, and the spiritual and celestial man is the internal man, and the rational man is intermediate between the two, being that by which the communication of the internal and the external man is effected. I am aware that few will apprehend these statements, because men live in external things, and think from them. Hence it is that some regard themselves as being like the brutes, and believe that on the death of the body they will die altogether, although they then first begin to live. After death, those who are good, at first live a sensuous life in the world or heaven of spirits, afterwards an interior sensuous life in the heaven of angelic spirits, and lastly an inmost sensuous life in the angelic heaven, this angelic life being the life of the internal man, and concerning which scarcely anything can be said that is comprehensible by man. The regenerate may know that there is such a life by reflecting on the nature of the good and the true, and of spiritual warfare, for it is the life of the Lord in man, since the Lord-through the internal man-works the good of charity and the truth of faith in his external man. What is thence perceived in his thought and affection is a certain general which contains innumerable things that come from the internal man, and which the man cannot possibly perceive until he enters the angelic heaven. (Concerning this general and its nature, see above, n. 545, from experience.) The things here said about the internal man, being above the apprehension of very many, are not necessary to salvation. It is sufficient to know that there is an internal and an external man, and to acknowledge and believe that all good and truth are from the Lord.
979. These observations on the state of the regenerate man, and on the influx of the internal man into the external, have been premised, because this chapter treats of the regenerate man, of the dominion of the internal man over the external, and of the submission of the external man.
980. Verse 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. “God blessed” signifies the presence and grace of the Lord; “Noah and his sons” signifies the Ancient Church; “be fruitful” signifies the goods of charity; “and multiply” signifies the truths of faith, which were now to be increased; “replenish the earth” signifies in the external man.
981. That “God blessed” signifies the presence and grace of the Lord, is evident from the signification of “to bless.” “To bless” in the Word, in the external sense signifies to enrich with every earthly and corporeal good, according to the explanation of the Word given by those who abide in the external sense-as the ancient and modern Jews, and also Christians, especially at the present day-wherefore they have made the Divine blessing to consist in riches, in an abundance of all things, and in self-glory. But in the internal sense, “to bless” is to enrich with all spiritual and celestial good, which blessing is and never can be given except by the Lord, and on this account it signifies His presence and grace, which necessarily bring with them such spiritual and celestial good. It is said presence, because the Lord is present solely in charity, and the subject treated of here is the regenerate spiritual man, who acts from charity. The Lord is indeed present with every man, but in proportion as a man is distant from charity, in the same proportion the presence of the Lord is-so to speak-more absent, that is, the Lord is more remote. The reason why grace is mentioned, and not mercy, is for the reason-which as I conjecture, has been hitherto unknown-that celestial men do not speak of grace, but of mercy, while spiritual men do not speak of mercy, but of grace. This mode of speaking is grounded in the circumstance that those who are celestial acknowledge the human race to be nothing but filthiness, and as being in itself excrementitious and infernal; wherefore they implore the mercy of the Lord, for mercy is predicated of such a condition. Those, however, who are spiritual, although they know the human race to be of such a nature, yet they do not acknowledge it, because they remain in their Own, which they love, and therefore they speak with difficulty of mercy, but easily of grace. This difference in language results from the difference in the humiliation. In proportion as anyone loves himself, and thinks that he can do good of himself, and thus merit salvation, the less capable is he of imploring the Lord’s mercy. The reason why some can implore grace is that it has become a customary form of speaking, in which there is but little of the Lord and much of self, as anyone may discover in himself while he names the grace of the Lord.
982. That by “Noah and his sons” is signified the Ancient Church, has been said and shown above, and is evident also from what follows.
983. That “be fruitful” signifies the good of charity, and “multiply” the truths of faith, which were now about to be increased, is evident from the signification of these two expressions in the Word, where “to be fruitful” or to produce fruit, is constantly predicated of charity, and “to multiply” of faith, as was shown above, n. 43, 55, and in further confirmation of which we may adduce the following passages from the Word:
Turn, O backsliding sons; I will give you shepherds according to Mine heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and intelligence and it shall be that ye shall be multiplied and made fruitful in the earth (Jer. 3:14-16),
where “to be multiplied” manifestly denotes growth in knowledge and intelligence, that is, in faith, and “to be made fruitful” denotes the goods of charity; for it there treats of the implantation of the church, in which faith or “multiplication” comes first. Again:
I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all lands whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds, and they shall be fruitful and multiplied (Jer. 23:3),
speaking of a church already planted, consequently to be “made fruitful” as to the goods of charity and to be “multiplied” as to the truths of faith. So in Moses:
Moreover I will look to you, and make you to be fruitful, and I will make you to be multiplied, and establish My covenant with you (Lev. 26:9),
speaking in the internal sense of the celestial church, wherefore “to be fruitful” is predicated of the goods of love and charity, and “to be multiplied” of the goods and truths of faith. In Zechariah:
I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied as they have been multiplied (Zech. 10:8);
that “to be multiplied” is here predicated of the truths of faith, is evident from their being to “be redeemed.” In Jeremiah:
The city shall be builded upon her own heap, and out of them shall proceed confession, and the voice of them that make merry, and I will cause them to be multiplied, and they shall not be diminished; their sons also shall be as aforetime (Jer. 30:18-20),speaking of the affections of truth, and of the truths of faith; the former being denoted by “confession, and the voice of them that make merry” and the latter by “being multiplied;” “sons” also here denote truths.
984. That to “replenish the earth” signifies in the external man, is evident from the signification of the “earth” as being the external man, which has been already shown several times. In reference to the goods of charity and the truths of faith in the regenerate man, it may be observed that they are implanted in his conscience; and as they are implanted by means of faith, or by the hearing of the Word, they are at first in his memory, which belongs to the external man. When the man has been regenerated, and the internal man acts, the same takes place with respect to fructification and multiplication, the goods of charity putting themselves forth in the affections of the external man, and the truths of faith in his memory, increasing and multiplying in each case. The nature of this multiplication may be known to every regenerate person, for things that confirm constantly accrue, from the Word, from the rational man, and from knowledges [scientifica], by which he becomes more and more confirmed, this being an effect of charity, the Lord alone doing the work through charity.
985. Verse 2. And let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of heaven even to everything which the ground causeth to creep forth, and to all the fishes of the sea; into your hands let them be given. “The fear of you and the terror of you” signifies the dominion of the internal man; “fear” having reference to evils; and “terror” to falsities; “upon every beast of the earth” signifies upon the cupidities which are of the mind [animus] “and upon every bird of heaven” signifies upon the falsities which belong to reasoning; “to everything which the ground causeth to creep forth” signifies affections of good; “to all the fishes of the sea” signifies memory-knowledges [scientifica] “let ahem be given into your hands” signifies the possession of the internal man in the external.
986. The fear of you and the terror of you. That this signifies the dominion of the internal man, “fear” having reference to evils, and “terror” to falsities, is evident from the state of the regenerate man. The state of man before regeneration is such that cupidities and falsities, which are of the external man, continually predominate, and hence arises a combat; but after regeneration the internal man has dominion over the external, that is, over its cupidities and falsities, and then the man is in fear of evils and in terror of falsities, both of which are contrary to conscience, and to act in opposition to this affects him with horror. Howbeit, it is not the internal but the external man that fears evils and dreads falsities, wherefore it is here said “let the fear of you and the terror of you be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heaven” that is, upon all cupidities, here signified by “beasts” and upon all falsities, here meant by the “bird of heaven.” This “fear” and this “terror” appear as if they were the man’s own, but they arise from the following cause. As has been previously stated, there are with every man at least two angels, through whom he has communication with heaven, and two evil spirits, through whom he has communication with hell. When the angels rule-as is the case with the regenerate man-then the attendant evil spirits dare not attempt to do anything contrary to what is good and true, because they are in bonds; for, on their attempting to do anything evil, or to speak what is false-that is, to excite it-they are instantly seized with a kind of infernal fear and terror. This fear and terror are what are perceived in the man as a fear and terror for what is contrary to conscience; and therefore as soon as he does or speaks anything contrary to conscience, he comes into temptation, and into the pangs of conscience, that is, into a kind of infernal torment. As to “fear” being predicated of evils, and “terror” of falsities, the case is this: the spirits with a man do not so much fear to do evils as they do to speak falsities, because man is born again and receives conscience through the truths of faith, and therefore the spirits are not allowed to excite false things. With everyone of them there is nothing but evil, so that they are in evil; their very nature, and all their effort therefrom is evil; and since they are in evil, and their proper life consists in evil, they are pardoned for doing evil when they are serving any use. But it is not permitted them to speak anything false, and this in order that they may learn what is true, and thus so far as possible be amended, so that they may serve some low use; but concerning this subject, of the Lord’s Divine mercy, more hereafter. Similar is the case with the regenerate man, for his conscience is formed of the truths of faith, and therefore his conscience is a conscience of what is right, what is false being to him the very evil of life, because it is contrary to the truth of faith. It was otherwise with the man of the Most Ancient Church, who had perception. He perceived evil of life as evil, and falsity of faith as falsity.
987. Upon every beast of the earth. That this signifies over the cupidities of the lower mind, is evident from the signification of “beasts” in the Word, where they signify either affections or cupidities, affections of good being signified by gentle, useful, and clean beasts; and affections of evil, or cupidities, by those that are fierce, useless, and unclean (concerning which see above, n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 776). Here, as cupidities are signified, they are called “beasts of the earth” not beasts of the field. With regard to the rule of the regenerate man over cupidities, it is to be known that those are in the greatest error, and are by no means the regenerate, who believe that they can of themselves rule over evils. For man is nothing but evil; he is a mass of evils; all his will being merely evil; which is what is said in the preceding chapter (8:21): that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” It has been shown me by living experience that a man and a spirit, even an angel, in himself regarded, that is, as to all that is his own, is but vilest excrement; and that left to himself he breathes nothing but hatred, revenge, cruelty, and most foul adultery.
[2] These things are his own; these are his will; as must also be evident to everyone if he reflects, merely from this, that man when born is, among all wild animals and beasts, the vilest creature living. And when he grows up and becomes his own master, if not hindered by outward bonds of the law, and bonds which he imposes on himself for the purpose of gaining great honor and wealth, he would rush into every crime, and not rest until he had subjugated all in the universe, and raked together the wealth of all in the universe; nor would he spare any but those who submitted to be his humble servants. Such is the nature of every man, although those are unaware of it who are powerless and to whom such attempts are impossible, and also those who are in the bonds above mentioned. But let the possibility and power be given, and the bonds be relaxed, and they would rush on to the extent of their ability. Wild animals never show such a nature. They are born into a certain order of their nature. Those which are fierce and rapacious inflict injury on other creatures, but only in self-defense; and their devouring other animals is to allay their hunger, and when this is allayed they do harm to none. But it is altogether different with man. From all this it is evident what is the nature of man’s Own and will.
[3] Since man is such mere evil and excrement, it is evident that he can never of himself rule over evil. It is an utter contradiction for evil to be able to rule over evil, and not only over evil, but also over hell; for every man is in communication through evil spirits with hell, and thereby the evil in him is excited. From all this everyone may know, and he who has a sound mind may conclude, that the Lord alone rules over evil in man and over hell with him. In order that the evil in man may be subjugated, that is, hell, which strives every moment to rush in upon him and destroy him forever, man is regenerated by the Lord and endowed with a new will, which is conscience, through which the Lord alone performs all good. These are points of faith: that man is nothing but evil; and that all good is from the Lord. They are therefore not only known by man, but also acknowledged and believed; and if he does not so acknowledge and believe in the life of the body, it is shown him to the life in the life to come.
988. And upon every bird of heaven. That this signifies upon falsities of reasoning, is evident from the signification of “bird.” In the Word “birds” signify intellectual things: those which are gentle, useful, and beautiful, signifying intellectual truths; and those which are fierce, useless, and ugly, signifying intellectual falsities, or falsities of reasoning. (That they signify intellectual things may be seen above, n. 40, 776, 870.) From this it is also evident that “birds” signify reasonings and their falsities. That there may be no doubt let the following passages (in addition to those cited about the raven, n. 866) serve for confirmation. In Jeremiah:
I will visit upon them in four kinds, saith Jehovah; the sword to slay, and the dogs to drag, and the fowl of heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and to destroy (Jer. 15:3).
In Ezekiel:
Upon his ruin all the fowls of the heaven shall dwell, and all the wild animals of the field shall be upon his branches (Ezek. 31:13).
In Daniel:
At last upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation (Dan. 9:27).
In John:
Babylon is become a hold of every unclean and hateful bird (Rev. 18:2).Many times it is said in the Prophets that carcasses should be given for meat to the fowl of the air and to the beast of the field (Jer. 7:33; 19:7; 34:20; Ezek. 29:5; 39:4; Ps. 79:2; Isa. 18:6). By this was signified that they should be destroyed by falsities, which are “birds of heaven” and by evils, or cupidities, which are the “beasts of the earth.”
989. As regards dominion over falsities, it is the same as with dominion over evils: man cannot of himself have the least dominion over them. Since the subject here is the dominion of the regenerated man over cupidities, or the “beast of the earth” and over falsities, or the “bird of heaven” it is to be known that no one can ever say that he is regenerate unless he acknowledges and believes that charity is the primary thing of his faith, and unless he is affected with love toward the neighbor, and has mercy on him. Of charity his new will is formed. Through charity the Lord brings about good, and thereby truth, but not through faith without charity. There are some who perform works of charity from obedience alone, that is, because it is so commanded by the Lord, and yet are not regenerate. These if they do not place righteousness in their works are regenerated in the other life.
990. Even to everything that the ground maketh to creep forth. That this signifies affections of good is evident both from what precedes and from the signification of the “ground” from which they are produced or creep forth; from what precedes, since there evils and falsities are treated of, over which the regenerate man rules, and therefore here affections of good, which are given into his hands; and from the signification of the “ground” from which they are produced or creep forth, since the “ground” is in general the man of the church and whatever is of the church, and thus here whatever is produced by the Lord through the internal man in the external. The ground itself is in the external man, in his affections and memory. It appears as if man produced what is good, and therefore it is said “everything that the ground maketh to creep forth;” but this is only the appearance; good is produced through the internal man by the Lord, since, as has been said, there is nothing of good and truth except from the Lord.
991. And to all the fishes of the sea. That this signifies memory-knowledges [scientifica], is evident from the signification of a fish. “Fishes” in the Word signify memory-knowledges, which spring from things of sense. For memory-knowledges [scientifica] are of three kinds: intellectual, rational, and sensuous. All these are planted in the memory, or rather memories, and in the regenerate man are called forth thence by the Lord, through the internal man. These memory-knowledges which are from things of sense come to man’s sensation or perception when he lives in the body, for he thinks from them. The rest, which are interior, do not come so much to perception until man puts off the body and enters the other life. That “fishes” or the creeping things which the waters produce, signify memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 40); and that a “whale” or “sea monster” signifies the generals of these knowledges (n. 42). Moreover the same is evident from the following passages in the Word. In Zephaniah:
I will make man and beast to fail; I will make the fowls of the heavens and the fishes of the sea to fail (Zeph. 1:3),
where the “fowls of the heavens” denote things of reason, and the “fishes of the sea” lower rational things, that is, man’s thought from sensuous memory-knowledges.
[2] In Habakkuk:
Thou makest man as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping thing that has no ruler over them (Hab. 1:14),
where “making man as the fishes of the sea” means that he is altogether sensuous. In Hosea:
Therefore shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the wild animal of the field and the fowl of the heavens; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be gathered (Hos. 4:3),
where the “fishes of the sea” denote memory-knowledges from things of sense. In David:
Thou hast put all things under his feet; all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas (Ps. 8:6-8),
speaking of the dominion of the Lord in man, the “fish of the sea” denote memory-knowledges. That “seas” signify the gathering together of knowledges [scientificorum seu cognitionum], may be seen above (n. 28). In Isaiah:
The fishers shall lament, and all they that cast a hook into the river shall mourn, and they that spread a net upon the faces of the waters shall languish (Isa. 19:8);
“fishers” denoting those who trust only in things of sense, and out of these hatch falsities; the subject being Egypt, or the realm of memory-knowledge.
992. Into your hands let them be given. That this signifies the possession of the internal man in the external, is evident from what has been already said, and from the signification of “hand” (as above, n. 878). It is said “into your hands let them be given” because such is the appearance.
993. Verse 3. Every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the esculent herb have I given it all to you. “Every creeping thing that liveth” signifies all pleasures in which there is good which is living; “shall be food for you” signifies their delight, which they enjoy; “as the esculent herb” signifies what is vile of delights; “have I given it all to you” signifies enjoyment on account of use.
994. Every creeping thing that liveth. That this signifies all pleasures in which there is good which is living, is evident from the signification of a “creeping thing” as shown before. That creeping things here mean all clean beasts and birds, is evident to everyone, for it is said that they are given for food. Creeping things in their proper sense are such as are vilest of all (as named in Lev. 11:23, 29, 30), and were unclean. But in a broad sense, as here, animals are meant which are given for food; yet here they are called “creeping things” because they signify pleasures. Man’s affections are signified in the Word by clean beasts, as already said; but since his affections are perceived only in his pleasures, so that he calls them pleasures, they are here called “creeping things.”
[2] Pleasures are of two kinds, those of the will, and those of the understanding. In general there are the pleasures of possession of land and wealth, the pleasures of honor and office in the state, the pleasures of conjugial love and of love for infants and children, the pleasures of friendship and of converse with companions, the pleasures of reading, of writing, of knowing, of being wise; and many others. There are also the pleasures of the senses: as the pleasure of hearing, which is in general that from the sweetness of music and song; and that of seeing, which is in general that of various and manifold beauties; and of smelling, which is from the sweetness of odors; and of tasting, which is from the agreeableness and wholesomeness of foods and drinks; and of touch, from many pleasing sensations. These kinds of pleasures, being felt in the body, are called pleasures of the body. But no pleasure ever exists in the body unless it exists and subsists from an interior affection, and no interior affection exists except from one more interior, in which is the use and the end.
[3] These things which, in regular order, are interior, commencing from those which are inmost, are not perceived by man while he lives in the body, and most men hardly know that they exist, still less that they are the source of pleasures; when yet nothing can ever exist in externals except from things interior in order. Pleasures are only ultimate effects. The interior things do not lie open to view so long as men live in the body, except to those who reflect upon them. In the other life they for the first time come forth to view, and indeed in the order in which they are elevated by the Lord toward heaven. Interior affections with their delights manifest themselves in the world of spirits, the more interior with their delights in the heaven of angelic spirits, and the still more interior with their happiness in the heaven of angels; for there are three heavens, one more interior, more perfect, and more happy than another (see n. 459, 684). These interiors unfold and present themselves to perception in the other life; but so long as man lives in the body, since he is all the time in the idea and thought of corporeal things, these interior things are as it were asleep, being immersed in the corporeal things. But yet it may be evident to anyone who reflects, that all pleasures are such as are the affections that are more and more interior in order, and that they receive from these all their essence and quality.
[4] Since the affections that are more and more interior in order are felt in the extremes or outermost things, that is, in the body, as pleasures, they are called “creeping things” but they are only corporeal things affected by internal ones, as must be evident to everyone merely from sight and its pleasures. Except there be interior sight, no eye can ever see. The sight of the eye exists from interior sight, and for this reason after the death of the body man sees equally as well and even better than when he lived in the body-not indeed worldly and corporeal things, but those of the other life. Those who were blind in the life of the body, see in the other life as well as those who had keen vision. So too when man sleeps, he sees in his dreams as clearly as when awake. It has been given me to see by internal sight the things in the other life more clearly than I see the things in the world. From all this it is evident that external sight comes forth from interior sight, and this from sight still more interior, and so on. It is similar with every other sense and with every pleasure.
[5] Pleasures are likewise in other parts of the Word called “creeping things” with a distinction between the clean and the unclean, that is, between pleasures the delights of which are living, or heavenly, and pleasures the delights of which are dead or infernal. As in Hosea:
In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the ground (Hos. 2:18).
That here the wild animal of the field, the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping thing, signify such things in man as have been said, is evident from the subject being a new church. In David:
Let the heavens and the earth praise Jehovah, the seas, and everything that creepeth therein (Ps. 69:34).
The seas and the things that creep therein cannot praise Jehovah, but the things in man that are signified by them and are living, thus from what is living within them. Again:
Praise Jehovah ye wild animal and every beast, creeping thing and winged fowl (Ps. 148:10),
with a similar meaning.
[6] That here by “creeping thing” nothing else is meant than good affections from which are pleasures, is evident also from creeping things being with this people unclean, as will be plain from what follows. Again:
O Jehovah the earth is full of Thy riches; this sea, great and wide, wherein are things creeping without number; these wait all upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them their food in due season; Thou givest them, they gather; Thou openest Thy hand, they are satiated with good (Ps. 104:24-28).
Here in the internal sense by “seas” are signified spiritual things, by “things creeping” all things that live therefrom; the enjoyment is signified by giving them food in due season, and by their being satiated with good. In Ezekiel:
And it shall come to pass that every living soul that creepeth, in every place whither the rivers come, shall live; and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters are come thither, and they shall be healed, and everything shall live whithersoever the river cometh (Ezek. 47:9).
Here are meant the waters of the New Jerusalem; these waters denote spiritual things from a celestial origin; “the living soul that creepeth” the affections of good, and the pleasures therefrom, both of the body and of the senses; that these live from the “waters” or from spiritual things from a celestial origin, is very evident.
[7] That filthy pleasures too, which have their origin in what is man’s own, thus in the foul cupidities thereof, are also called “creeping things” is evident in Ezekiel:
So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping thing and of beast, the abomination, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about (Ezek. 8:10).
Here the “form of creeping thing” signifies unclean pleasures whose interiors are cupidities, and the interiors of these, hatreds, revenges, cruelties, and adulteries; such are the “creeping things” or delights of pleasures from the love of self and of the world, or from man’s Own, which are their “idols” because they regard them as delightful, love them, have them for gods, and thus adore them. In the representative church, these creeping things, because they had such a vile signification, were likewise so unclean that it was not permitted even to touch them; and he who but touched them was unclean (as may be seen in Lev. 5:2; 11:31-33; 22:5-6).
995. Shall be food for you. That this signifies its delight which they should enjoy, is evident from this, that any pleasure not only affects man, but also sustains him, like food. Pleasure without delight is not pleasure, but is something without life, and only from delight is and is called pleasure. Such also as is the delight, such is the pleasure. Corporeal and sensuous things are in themselves only material, lifeless, and dead; but from delights which come in order from the interiors, they have life. From this it is evident that such as is the life of the interiors, such is the delight in the pleasures, for in the delight there is life. The delight in which there is good from the Lord is alone living, for it is then from the very life of good; for which reason it is here said, “every creeping thing that liveth shall be food for you” that is, for enjoyment.
[2] Some think that no one ought ever to live in the pleasures of the body and its senses who wishes to be happy in the other life, but that all these should be renounced on the ground that they are corporeal and worldly, withdrawing man and keeping him away from spiritual and heavenly life. But those who think so and therefore reduce themselves to voluntary misery while they live in the world, are not well-informed as to what the real case is. No one is forbidden to enjoy the pleasures of the body and its senses, that is, the pleasures of possession of lands and wealth; the pleasures of honor and office in the state; the pleasures of conjugial love and of love for infants and children; the pleasures of friendship and of interaction with companions; the pleasures of hearing, or of the sweetness of singing and music; the pleasures of sight, or of beauties, which are manifold, as those of becoming dress, of elegant dwellings with their furniture, beautiful gardens, and the like, which are delightful from harmony of form and color; the pleasures of smell, or of fragrant odors; the pleasures of taste, or of the flavors and benefits of food and drink; the pleasures of touch. For these are most external or bodily affections arising from interior affections, as already said.
[3] Interior affections, which are living, all derive their delight from good and truth; and good and truth derive their delight from charity and faith, and in this case do so from the Lord, thus from life itself; wherefore the affections and pleasures therefrom are living. And since genuine pleasures have this origin, they are denied to no one. Indeed, when they are from this origin their delight indefinitely surpasses delight not from this source, which is in comparison unclean. For example, the pleasure of conjugial love, when it has its origin from true conjugial love, surpasses immeasurably pleasure that has not this origin, so much so that those who are in true conjugial love are in heavenly delight and happiness, since it comes down from heaven. This was acknowledged by the men of the Most Ancient Church. The delight from adulteries felt by adulterers was to those men so abominable that when they thought of it they shuddered. From all this it is evident what is the nature of the delight that does not flow from the true fountain of life, or from the Lord.
[4] That the pleasures above mentioned are never denied to man, and that so far from being denied they are then first really pleasures when they come from their true origin, may also be seen from the fact that very many who have lived in power, dignity, and opulence in the world, and who had all pleasures in abundance, both of the body and of the senses, are among the blessed and happy in heaven, and with them now the interior delights and happinesses are living, because they have had their origin in the goods of charity and the truths that are of faith in the Lord. And since they had regarded all their pleasures as coming from charity and faith in the Lord, they regarded them from use, which was their end. Use itself was the most delightful thing to them, and from this came the delight of their pleasures. (See what has been related from experience, n. 945.)
996. That the “esculent herb” signifies the vile things of delights is evident from what has been said. They are called the esculent herb because they are only worldly and corporeal, or external. For, as already said, the pleasures that are in the bodily or outermost things of man have their origin in delights that are successively more and more interior. The delights that are perceived in those outermost or bodily things are relatively vile, for it is the nature of all delight to become more vile in proportion as it progresses toward the externals, and more happy in proportion as it advances toward the internals. For this reason, as before said, in proportion as the externals are stripped off, or rolled away, the delights become more pleasant and happy, as may be evident enough from man’s delight in pleasures being vile while he lives in the body, in comparison with his delight after the life of the body, when he comes into the world of spirits; so vile indeed that good spirits utterly spurn the delights of the body, nor would they return to them if all in the whole world should be given them.
[2] The delight of these spirits in like manner becomes vile when they are taken up by the Lord into the heaven of angelic spirits; for they then throw off these interior delights and enter into those that are still more interior. So again to angelic spirits the delight which they have had in their heaven becomes vile when they are taken up by the Lord into the angelic or third heaven, in which heaven, since internal things are there living, and there is nothing but mutual love, the happiness is unspeakable. (See what is said of interior delight or happiness above, n. 545.) From these things it is evident what is signified by “as the esculent herb have I given it all to you.” Inasmuch as creeping things signify both pleasures of the body and pleasures of the senses, of which the esculent herb is predicated, the word in the original language is one which signifies both “esculent” and “green”-“esculent” in reference to pleasures of the will, or of celestial affections, and “green” in reference to pleasures of the understanding, or of spiritual affections.
[3] That the “esculent herb” and “green herb” signify what is vile, is evident in the Word, as in Isaiah:
The waters of Nimrim shall be desolate; for the grass is dried up, the herbage is consumed, there is no green thing (Isa. 15:6).
Their inhabitants were short of hand, they were dismayed, and put to shame; they became the herb of the field, and the green herbage, the grass on the house tops (Isa. 37:27),
the “green herbage” denoting what is most vile. In Moses:
The land whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs (Deut. 11:10),
where a “garden of herbs” denotes what is vile. In David:
The evil are as grass, suddenly are they cut down, and will be consumed as the green herbage (Ps. 37:2),
where “grass” and the “green herbage” denote what is most vile.
997. Have I given it all to you. That this signifies enjoyment on account of use, is because it is “for food”; for whatever is given for food is for use. With regard to use: those who are in charity, that is, in love to the neighbor (from which is the delight in pleasures that is alive), pay no regard to the enjoyment of pleasures except on account of the use. For there is no charity apart from works of charity; it is in its practice or use that charity consists. He who loves the neighbor as himself perceives no delight in charity except in its exercise, or in use; and therefore a life of charity is a life of uses. Such is the life of the whole heaven; for the kingdom of the Lord, because it is a kingdom of mutual love, is a kingdom of uses. Every pleasure therefore which is from charity, has its delight from use. The more noble the use, the greater the delight. Consequently the angels have happiness from the Lord according to the essence and quality of their use.
[2] And so it is with every pleasure-the more noble its use, the greater its delight. For example, the delight of conjugial love: because this love is the seminary of human society, and thereby of the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, which is the greatest of all uses, it has in it so much delight that it is the very happiness of heaven. It is the same with all other pleasures, but with a difference according to the excellence of the uses, which are so manifold that they can scarcely be classed in genera and species, some having regard more nearly and directly, and some more remotely and indirectly, to the kingdom of the Lord, or to the Lord. From these things it is further evident that all pleasures are granted to man, but only for the sake of use; and that they thus, with a difference from the use in which they are, partake of heavenly happiness and live from it.
998. Verse 4. Only the flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. “Flesh” signifies the will part of man; the “soul” signifies the new life; the “blood” signifies charity; “not to eat” signifies not to mingle together; wherefore by “not eating flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof” is meant not mingling profane things with holy.
999. That “flesh” signifies the will part of man, is evident from the signification of “flesh” in its proper sense in reference to man when corrupt. “Flesh” in general, signifies the whole man, and specifically the corporeal man, as may be seen above (n. 574); and since it signifies the whole man, and specifically the corporeal man, it signifies what is proper to man, consequently his will part. Man’s will part, or will, is nothing but evil; and therefore “flesh” predicated of man, because he is such, signifies all cupidity, or all concupiscence, for man’s will is nothing but cupidity, as occasionally shown before. And because “flesh” has this signification, such was also the representation of the flesh which the people lusted after in the desert-as in Moses:
The mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting whence they wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? (Num. 11:4).
Here flesh is plainly called lust, for it is said that they fell a lusting, saying, Who shall give us flesh? The same is likewise evident from what follows:
While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague; and the name of that place was called the Graves of Lust, because there they buried the people that lusted (Num. 11:33-34).
[2] It must be evident to everyone that such a plague would never have been sent among the people on account of their lusting after flesh, thus not on account of a lust for flesh, since this is natural when a man has been kept from eating it for a long time, as the people then had in the wilderness. But a deeper reason lies hidden, which is spiritual, namely, that the people were of such a nature as to loathe what was signified and represented by the manna-as is evident also from the sixth verse-and to desire only such things as were signified and represented by “flesh” the things of their own will, which are of those of cupidities, and in themselves are excrementitious and profane. It was because that church was representative, from the representation of such things, that the people were afflicted with so great a plague; for what was done among the people was represented spiritually in heaven. The manna represented in heaven what is heavenly, and the flesh which they lusted after, the unclean things of their own will. For this reason, because they were of such a nature, they were punished. From these and other passages in the Word, it is evident that by “flesh” is signified what is of the will, and here of the will of man, the uncleanness of which may be seen under the second verse of this chapter, where the beast of the earth is treated of.
1000. That the “soul” signifies life, is evident from the signification of “soul” in the Word, in many places. “Soul” in the Word signifies in general all life, as well internal, or that of the internal man, as external, or that of the external man. And because it signifies all life, it signifies such life as is that of the man of whom the soul is predicated. Here it is predicated of the life of the regenerate man, which is separate from man’s will; for, as already said, the new life which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord is entirely separate from the will or Own of the man, that is, from the life that is his own, which is not life, though so called, but is death, because it is infernal life. Here therefore “flesh with the soul thereof” which they should not eat, signifies flesh together with its soul; that is, they should not mingle this new life, which is of the Lord, with the evil or excrementitious life which is of man, that is, with his will or Own.
1001. That the “blood” signifies charity, is evident from many things. Thus it signifies the new will part which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord, and which is the same as charity, for the new will is formed of charity. Charity or love is the very essential or life of the will, for no one can say that he wills anything, except from choosing or loving it. To say that one thinks a thing is not to will it, unless willing is in the thought. This new will which is of charity is here the “blood” and this will is not the man’s, but the Lord’s in the man. And because it is the Lord’s, it is never to be mingled with the things of man’s will, and which are so foul, as has been shown. For this reason it was commanded in the representative church that they should not eat flesh with the soul or blood thereof, that is, should not mingle the two together.
[2] The “blood” because it signified charity, signified what is holy; and the “flesh” because it signified man’s will, signified what is profane. And because these things are separate, being contrary, they were forbidden to eat blood; for by eating flesh with the blood was then represented in heaven profanation, or the mingling of what is sacred with what is profane; and this representation in heaven could not then but strike the angels with horror; for at that time all things existing with the man of the church were turned, among the angels, into corresponding spiritual representations, in accordance with the signification of the things in the internal sense. As the nature of all things is determined by that of the man of whom they are predicated, so also is the signification of “blood.” Relatively to the regenerate spiritual man, “blood” signifies charity, or love toward the neighbor; relatively to the regenerate celestial man it signifies love to the Lord; but relatively to the Lord it signifies all His Human essence, consequently Love itself, that is, His mercy toward the human race. Hence “blood” in general, because it signifies love and what is of love, signifies celestial things, which are of the Lord alone; and thus relatively to man the celestial things which he receives from the Lord. The celestial things which the regenerate spiritual man receives from the Lord, are celestial spiritual-of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, elsewhere.
[3] That “blood” signifies what is celestial, and in the supreme sense signified the Human essence of the Lord, thus love itself, or His mercy toward the human race, is evident from the sanctity in which it was commanded that blood should be held in the Jewish representative church. For this reason blood was called the blood of the covenant, and was sprinkled upon the people, as also upon Aaron and his sons, together with the anointing oil; and the blood of every burnt offering and sacrifice was sprinkled upon and around the altar (see Exod. 12:7, 13, 22-23; 24:6, 8; Lev. 1:5, 11, 15; 4:6-7, 17-18, 25, 30, 34; 5:9, 16:14-15, 18-19; Num. 18:17; Deut. 12:27).
[4] And because blood was held so sacred and man’s will is so profane, the eating of blood was severely prohibited, on account of its representation of the profanation of what is holy. As in Moses:
It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that ye shall eat neither fat nor blood (Lev. 3:17).”Fat” here denotes celestial life, and “blood” celestial spiritual life. The celestial spiritual is the spiritual which is from the celestial; as in the Most Ancient Church love to the Lord was their celestial, because implanted in their will; their celestial spiritual was the faith therefrom, of which see above (n. 30-38, 337, 393, 398). With the spiritual man, however, the celestial does not exist, but the celestial spiritual, because charity has been implanted in his intellectual part. Again in Moses:
Whosoever of the house of Israel, or of the sojourner sojourning among them, eateth any manner of blood, I will set My faces against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people; for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh atonement for the soul. The soul of all flesh, it is the blood thereof; whosoever eateth it shall be cut off (Lev. 17:10, 11, 14).
Here it is plainly shown that the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and that the soul of the flesh is the blood, or the celestial, that is, the holy, which is the Lord’s.
[5] Again:
Be sure that thou eat not the blood; for the blood is the soul, and thou shalt not eat the soul with the flesh (Deut. 12:23-25).From this passage also it is evident that the blood is called the soul, that is, celestial life, or the celestial, which was represented by the burnt offerings and sacrifices of that church. And in the same way, that what is celestial, which is the Lord’s Own [Domini Proprium]-which alone is celestial and holy-was not to be commingled with that which is man’s own-which is profane-was also represented by the command that they should not sacrifice or offer the blood of the sacrifice on what was leavened (Exod. 23:18; 34:25). What was leavened signified what is corrupt and defiled. That blood is called the soul and signifies the holy of charity, and that the holy of love was represented in the Jewish Church by blood, is because the life of the body consists in the blood. And as the life of the body consists in the blood, this is its ultimate soul, so that the blood may be said to be the corporeal soul, or that in which is the corporeal life of man; and inasmuch as in the representative churches internal things were represented by external, the soul or celestial life was represented by the blood.
1002. Shall ye not eat. That this signifies not to mingle together, follows from what has just been said. Eating the flesh of animals, regarded in itself, is something profane, for in the most ancient time they never ate the flesh of any beast or bird, but only seeds, especially bread made from wheat, also the fruit of trees, vegetables, various milks and what was made from them, such as various butters. To kill animals and eat their flesh was to them a wickedness, and like wild beasts. They took from them only service and use, as is evident from Genesis 1:29-30. But in process of time, when men began to be as fierce as wild beasts, and even fiercer, they then for the first time began to kill animals and eat their flesh; and because such was man’s nature, it was permitted him to do this, and is still permitted, to this day; and so far as he does it from conscience, so far it is lawful for him, since his conscience is formed of all that he supposes to be true and thus lawful. No one therefore is at this day condemned because of eating flesh.
1003. From these things it is now evident that “not to eat flesh with the soul thereof, the blood thereof” is not to mingle profane things with holy. Profane things are not mingled with holy by one’s eating blood with flesh, as the Lord clearly teaches in Matthew:
Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man; for the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart (Matt. 15:11, 18-20). But in the Jewish Church it was forbidden because, as has been said, by the eating of blood with the flesh there was then in heaven represented profanation. All things done in that church were turned in heaven into corresponding representatives-blood into the holy celestial; flesh, outside of the sacrifices, because it signified cupidities, into what is profane; and the eating of both into the mingling of the holy with the profane. For this reason it was then so severely interdicted. But after the coming of the Lord, when external rites were abolished, and thus representatives ceased, such things were no longer turned in heaven into corresponding representatives. For when man becomes internal and is instructed about internal things, external ones are of no account to him. He then knows what the holy is, namely, charity and the faith therefrom. According to these are his external things then regarded, that is to say, according to the amount of charity and faith in the Lord there is in them. Since the coming of the Lord, therefore, man is not regarded in heaven from external things, but from internal ones. And if anyone is regarded from external things it is because he is in simplicity, and in his simplicity there are innocence and charity, which are in his external things, that is, in his external worship, from the Lord, without the man’s knowledge.
1004. Verse 5. And surely your blood with your souls will I require; from the hand of every wild beast will I require it; and from the hand of man, from the hand of the man his brother will I require the soul of man. “And surely your blood with your souls will I require” signifies that violence inflicted upon charity will punish itself; “your blood” here, is violence; “souls” are they who inflict violence; “from the hand of every wild beast” signifies from all that is violent in man; “from the hand of man” is from all his will; “from the hand of the man his brother” is from all his understanding; “will I require the soul of man” is to avenge profanation.
1005. And surely your blood with your souls will I require. That this signifies that violence inflicted upon charity will punish itself, and that “blood” is violence, and “souls” they who inflict violence, is evident from what precedes and what follows, as also from the signification of “blood” in the opposite sense, and from the signification of “soul” in the opposite sense. From what precedes, because in the preceding verse the eating of blood is treated of, by which is signified profanation, as has been shown. From what follows, as the next verse treats of the shedding of blood; and therefore here the subject is the state and punishment of him who mingles what is sacred with what is profane. From the signification of “blood” in the opposite sense, because in the genuine sense “blood” signifies what is celestial, and in reference to the regenerate spiritual man charity, which is his celestial; but in the opposite sense “blood” signifies violence inflicted upon charity, consequently what is contrary to charity, and therefore all hatred, revenge, cruelty, and especially profanation, as may be seen from the passages in the Word cited above (n. 374, 376). From the signification of “soul” in the opposite sense, since “soul” in the Word signifies in general life, thus every man who lives; but since such as man is such is his life, it signifies also the man who brings violence, as may be confirmed by many passages from the Word, but here only by this from Moses:
He that eateth blood, I will set My faces against the soul that eateth blood, and I will cut it off from among his people; for the soul of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that will make atonement for the soul (Lev. 17:10-11, 14).
Here the “soul” denotes the life in a threefold sense, as often elsewhere. That violence inflicted upon charity will bring punishment on itself, will be evident from what follows.
1006. From the hand of every wild beast. That this signifies from all that is violent in man, is evident from the signification of “wild beast.” In the Word “wild beast” [fera] signifies what is living (as shown n. 908), but in the opposite sense it signifies what is like a wild beast, thus whatever is ferine in man (as also shown above). Therefore it signifies a man of such life, namely, a violent man, or one who inflicts violence on charity; for he is like a wild beast. Man is a man from love and charity, but he is a wild beast from hatred, revenge, and cruelty.
1007. From the hand of man [homo]. That this is from all of his will, and that “from the hand of the “brother man” [viri fratris] is from all of his intellectual, is evident from the signification of “man”-for the essential and life of man is his will, and such as the will is, such is the man-and from the signification of a “brother man.” The intellectual in man is called “brother man” as shown before (n. 367). Whether it be a true intellectual, a spurious intellectual, or a false intellectual, it is still called a “brother man”; for the understanding is called “man” [vir] (n. 158, 265), and the “brother” of the will (n. 367). “Man [homo]” and “man [vir] brother” are here mentioned, and the unclean will and unclean intellectual are so called, because profanation is here treated of, no mention or representation of which is tolerated in heaven, but is at once rejected. For this reason such mild terms are here used, and the meaning of the words of this verse is in a manner ambiguous, that it may not be known in heaven that such things are contained in it.
1008. Will I require the soul of man. That this means to avenge profanation, is evident from what has been said in the preceding verse and in this verse, for the subject is the eating of blood, by which is signified profanation. What profanation is, few know, and still less what its punishment is in the other life. Profanation is manifold. He who utterly denies the truths of faith does not profane them, as do not the nations which live outside of the church and of knowledges. But he profanes them who knows the truths of faith, and especially he who acknowledges them, bears them in his mouth, preaches them, and persuades others to adopt them, and yet lives in hatred, revenge, cruelty, robbery, and adultery, which he confirms in himself by many things that he extracts from the Word, perverting them and thus immersing them in these foul evils. He it is who profanes. And it is such profanity chiefly that brings death to a man, as may be evident from this, that in the other life what is profane and what is holy are entirely separated-what is profane in hell and what is holy in heaven. When such a man comes into the other life, in every idea of his thought, just as in the life of the body, what is holy adheres to what is profane. He cannot there bring forth a single idea of what is holy without what is profane being seen adhering, as clearly as in daylight, there is such perception of another’s ideas in the other life. Thus in everything he thinks profanation is manifest, and since heaven abhors profanation, he cannot but be thrust down into hell.
[2] The nature of ideas is known to hardly anyone. It is supposed that they are something simple; but in each idea of thought there are things innumerable, variously conjoined so as to make a certain form, and hence pictured image of the man, which is all perceived and even seen in the other life. Merely for example-when the idea of a place occurs, whether of a country, a city, or a house, then an idea and image of all things the man has ever done there comes forth, and they are all seen by angels and spirits; or when the idea of a person whom he has held in hatred, then the idea comes forth of all things which he has thought, spoken, and done against him. And so it is with all other ideas; when they come up, all things in general and particular that he has conceived and impressed on himself in regard to the subject in question lie open to view. As when the idea of marriage arises, if he has been an adulterer, all filthy and obscene things of adultery, even of thought about it, come forth; likewise all things with which he has confirmed adulteries-whether from things of sense, from things of reason, or from the Word-and how he has adulterated and perverted the truths of the Word.
[3] Moreover, the idea of one thing flows into the idea of another and colors it, as when a little black is dropped into water and the whole volume of water is darkened. Thus is the spirit known from his ideas, and, wonderful to say, in every idea of his there is an image or likeness of himself, which when presented to view is so deformed as to be horrible to see. From this it is evident what is the state of those who profane holy things, and what is their appearance in the other life. But it can never be said that those profane holy things who in simplicity have believed what is said in the Word, even if they have believed what was not true; for things are said in the Word according to appearances, as may be seen above (n. 589).
1009. Verse 6. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood in man, his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God made He man. “Sheddeth man’s blood in man” signifies extinguishing charity; “in man” is with man; “his blood shall be shed” signifies his condemnation; “for in the image of God made He man” signifies charity, which is the “image of God.”
1010. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood in man. That this signifies extinguishing charity, and that “in man” is with man, is evident from the signification of “blood”-concerning which above-as being the holy of charity, and from its being said “man’s blood in man.” This means his internal life, which is not in him, but with him; for the life of the Lord is charity, which is not in man, because he is filthy and profane, but is with man. That “shedding blood” is inflicting violence on charity, is evident from passages in the Word, as from those adduced before (n. 374, 376), where it was shown that violence inflicted upon charity is called “blood.” “Shedding blood” is in the literal sense killing, but in the internal sense it is bearing hatred against the neighbor, as the Lord teaches in Matthew:
Ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment; but I say unto you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause shall be in danger of the judgment (Matt. 5:21-22).
Here “being angry” signifies receding from charity (on which see n. 357), and consequently hatred.
[2] He who is in hatred, not only has no charity, but also inflicts violence on charity, that is, “sheds blood.” In hatred lies actual murder, as is manifest from this, that he who is in hatred desires nothing so much as that the one he hates should be killed; and if he were not withheld by outward restraints, he would kill him. For this reason the “killing of a brother and the shedding of his blood” is hatred; and since it is hatred, there is this in every idea of his against him. It is the same with profanation. He who profanes the Word, as has been said, not only holds truth in hatred, but also extinguishes, or kills it. This is manifest from those in the other life who have committed profanation; no matter how upright, wise, and devout they have appeared outwardly during their life in the body, in the other life they hold the Lord in deadly hatred, and also all the goods of love and truths of faith, for the reason that these are opposed to their inward hatred, robbery, and adultery, which they have veiled with a show of holiness, and while adulterating the goods of love and truths of faith to favor themselves.
[3] That “blood” means profanation, is evident not only from the passages adduced above (n. 374), but also from the following in Moses:
What man soever there be of the house of Israel, that killeth an ox, or lamb, or goat, in the camp, or that killeth it without the camp, and hath not brought it unto the door of the tent of meeting, to offer it as an oblation unto Jehovah before the tabernacle of Jehovah, blood shall be imputed unto that man, he hath shed blood; and that man shall be cut off from among his people (Lev. 17:3-4).
Sacrificing in any other place than on the altar, which was near the tabernacle, represented profanation; for sacrificing was a holy thing, but profane if in the camp or outside the camp.
1011. His blood shall be shed. That this signifies his condemnation, is evident from what has been said. It is according to the sense of the letter that the shedder of blood, or the slayer, should be punished with death. But in the internal sense the meaning is that he who has hatred against the neighbor is thereby condemned to death, that is, to hell, as the Lord also teaches in Matthew:
Whosoever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire (Matt. 5:22).
For when charity is extinguished, the man is left to himself and to his Own, and is ruled by the Lord no longer through internal bonds, which are of conscience, but through external bonds, which are of laws, such as he himself makes for the sake of his own wealth and power. And when these bonds are relaxed, as is the case in the other life, he rushes into the greatest cruelty and obscenity, thus into his own condemnation. That the blood shall be shed of him who sheddeth blood is a law of retaliation well known to the ancients, according to which they judged crimes and wrongs, as is evident from many passages in the Word. This law has its origin in the universal law that one should not do to another what he would not that another should do to him (Matt. 7:12); as also from this, that it is the order universal in the other life that evil punishes itself, and likewise falsity; thus that in evil and falsity is its own punishment. And because there is such order that evil punishes itself, or what is the same, that an evil man rushes into punishment answering to his evil, the ancients deduced from this their law of retaliation as is here also signified by the declaration that whoso sheddeth blood, his blood shall be shed, that is, he will rush into condemnation.
1012. The literal meaning of the words: “whoso sheddeth man’s blood in man, his blood shall be shed” is one who sheds another’s blood; but in the internal sense it is not another’s blood, but charity in oneself. For this reason it is said “man’s blood in man.” Sometimes when two are spoken of in the literal sense, only one is meant in the internal sense. The internal man is man in man. Whoso therefore extinguishes charity, which is of the internal man, or is the internal man himself, his blood shall be shed, that is, he condemns himself.
1013. For in the image of God made He man. That this signifies charity, which is the “image of God” follows as a consequence. In the preceding verse charity was treated of, which was signified by “blood” and that it should not be extinguished was signified by “not shedding blood.” Here now it follows that He made man into the image of God; from which it is evident that charity is the image of God. What the image of God is, hardly anyone knows at the present day. They say that the image of God was lost in the first man, whom they call Adam, and that it was a certain perfection* of the nature of which they are ignorant. And indeed there was perfection, for by “Adam” or “Man” is meant the Most Ancient Church” which was a celestial man, and had perception, such as had no church after it; by reason of which it was also a likeness of the Lord. A likeness of the Lord signifies love to Him.
[2] After this church perished in the course of time, the Lord created a new church, which was not a celestial but a spiritual church. This was not a likeness, but an image of the Lord. An “image” signifies spiritual love, that is, love to the neighbor, or charity, as has been shown before (n. 50-51). That this church was, from spiritual love, or charity, an image of the Lord, is evident from this verse; and that charity is itself an image of the Lord is evident from its being said, “for in the image of God made He man” that is to say, charity itself made him so. That charity is the “image of God” is most clearly evident from the very essence of love, or charity. Nothing else than love and charity can make an image and likeness of anyone. It is the essence of love and charity to make of two as it were one. When one person loves another as himself, and more than himself, he then sees the other in himself, and himself in the other. This may be known to everyone if he only directs his attention to love, or to those who love each other-the will of the one is the will of the other, they are interiorly as it were joined together, and only in body distinct the one from the other.
[3] Love to the Lord makes man one with the Lord, that is, a likeness of Him. So does charity, or love toward the neighbor, make him one with the Lord, but as an image. An image is not a likeness, but is according to or after a likeness [est ad similitudinem]. This oneness arising from love the Lord describes in John:
I pray that they all may be one; even as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; and the glory which Thou hast given unto Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me (John 17:21-23).
This “being one” is that mystical union which some think about, and which is by love alone. Again:
I live, and ye shall live; in that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; if a man love Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 14:19-23).
Hence it is evident that it is love which conjoins, and that the Lord has His abode with him who loves Him, and also with him who loves his neighbor, for this is love of the Lord. [4] This union, which makes a likeness and image, cannot be so well seen among men, but is seen in heaven, where from mutual love all the angels are as a one. Each society, which consists of many, constitutes as it were one man. And all the societies together-or the universal heaven-constitute one man, which is also called the Grand Man (see n. 457, 549). The universal heaven is a likeness of the Lord, for the Lord is the all in all who are therein. So also is each society a likeness, and so is each angel. The celestial angels are likenesses, the spiritual angels are images. Thus heaven consists of as many likenesses of the Lord as there are angels, and this solely through mutual love-one loving another more than himself (see n. 548, 549). For in order that the general or universal heaven may be a likeness, the parts, or individual angels, must be likenesses, or images that are according to likenesses. Unless the general consists of parts like itself, it is not a general that makes a one. From these things it may be seen as from an archetype, or pattern,** what makes a likeness and image of God, namely, love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; consequently, that every regenerate spiritual man, from love or charity, which is from the Lord alone, is His image. And he who is in charity from the Lord, is in “perfection;” of which perfection, by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter.
* “Perfect” is used here in the sense of “whole,” “entire.” Swedenborg’s word is integer. [Reviser.]
** Latin idea, which is evidently used here in its Platonic sense. See the Republic, Book X [Reviser].
1014. Verse 7. And you, be ye fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein. “Be ye fruitful and multiply” signifies here, as before, increase of good and truth in the interior man; “to be fruitful” being predicated of goods, and “to be multiplied” of truths; “bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein” signifies increase of good and truth in the external man, which is the “earth;” “to bring forth abundantly” is predicated of goods, and “to be multiplied” of truths.
1015. Be ye fruitful and multiply. That this signifies increase of good and truth in the interior man, and that “to be fruitful” is predicated of goods, and “to multiply” of truths, is evident from what has been shown before at the first verse of this chapter, where the same words occur. That the increase is in the interior man, is evident from what follows, where it is said again “be ye multiplied” which repetition would be needless, because superfluous, if it did not signify something special, distinct from what goes before. From this and from what was said above it is evident that being fruitful and multiplying are here predicated of goods and truths in the interior man. It is said the interior man because, as was shown above, in respect to what is celestial and spiritual, which is of the Lord alone, man is an internal man; but as to what is rational he is an interior or middle man, intermediate between the internal man and the external; and in respect to the affections of good and knowledges of the memory he is an external man. That such is the nature of man has been shown in what is premised to this chapter (n. 978); but his not knowing it while he lives in the body is because he is in the things of the body, and hence does not even know that there are interior things, still less that they are set in this distinct and separate order. Yet on reflecting the fact will be quite evident to him, when he is in thought withdrawn from the body and is thinking as it were in his spirit. The reason fruitfulness and multiplication are predicated of the interior or rational man is that the working of the internal man is not perceived, except in the interior man in a very general manner. For in the interior man an innumerable host of particulars are presented to view as one general thing; most extremely general in fact. How innumerable the particulars are, what is their nature, and how they present an obscure general whole, is evident from what has been shown above (n. 545).
1016. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein. That this signifies increase of good and truth in the external man, which is the earth; and that “to bring forth abundantly” is predicated of goods, and “to be multiplied” of truths, is evident from what has now been said, and also from the signification of “earth” as being the external man, concerning which significations see what was said and shown at the first verse of this chapter (n. 983). As to its being said, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and be ye multiplied therein” the case is this: nothing is multiplied with the regenerate man in his external man, that is, nothing of good and truth receives increase, except as the effect of charity. Charity is like heat in the time of spring or summer, which causes grass and plants and trees to grow. Without charity, or spiritual heat, nothing grows, and for this reason it is here said in the first place, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth” which is predicated of the goods that are of charity, by means of which there is multiplication of good and truth. Anyone may understand how this is; for nothing is increased and multiplied in man unless there be some affection, for it is the delight of the affection that causes it not only to take root, but also to increase, and everything depends upon the influence of the affection. What a man loves he freely learns, retains, and cherishes-thus all things that favor any affection. Those which do not favor, the man cares nothing for, regards as nothing, and even rejects. But such as the affection is, such is the multiplication. With the regenerate man the affection is that of good and truth from the charity that is given by the Lord. Whatever therefore favors that affection of charity he learns, retains, and cherishes, and thus confirms himself in goods and truths. This is signified by, “Bring forth abundantly in the earth and be ye multiplied therein.”
1017. To show that the multiplication is such as is the affection, take for example a man who accepts the principle that faith alone saves even if he does no work of charity, that is, even if he has no charity, and who thus separates faith from charity-not only on account of this principle received from childhood, but also because he supposes that if one should call the works of charity, or charity itself, an essential part of faith, and should on this account live aright, he could not but place merit in works, though this is a false supposition. Thus he rejects charity and makes the works of charity of no account, abiding only in the idea of faith, which is no faith without its essential, namely, charity. In confirming this principle in himself, he does it not at all from the affection of good, but from the affection of pleasure, that he may live in the indulgence of his cupidities. And anyone belonging to this class of people who confirms faith alone by many things, does so not from any affection of truth, but for his own glory, that he may seem greater, more learned, and more exalted than others, and may thus take a high place among those in wealth and honor; thus he does it from the delight of the affection, and this delight causes the multiplication of the confirmatory things; for, as has been said, such as the affection is, such is the multiplication. In general, when the principle is false, nothing but falsities can follow from it; for all things conform themselves to the first principle. Indeed-as I know from experience, of which by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter-those who confirm themselves in such principles about faith alone, and are in no charity, care nothing for, and are as if they did not see, all that the Lord said so many times about love and charity (see Matt. 3:8-9; 5:7, 43-48; 6:12, 15; 7:1-20; 9:13; 12:33; 13:8, 23; 18:21-23 and to the end; 19:19; 21:34, 40-41, 43; 22:34-39; 24:12-13; 25:34 40, 41, 45; Mark 4:18-20; 11:13-14, 20; 12:28-35; Luke 3:8-9; 6:27-39, 43-49; 7:47; 8:8, 14-15; 10:25-28; 12:58-59; 13:6-10; John 3:19, 21; 5:42; 13:34-35; 14:14-15, 20-21, 23; 15:1-19; 21:15-17).
1018. The reason why it is here said again, “Be ye fruitful, and multiply” as in the first verse of the chapter, is that here is the conclusion, and that all things will go well, and will be fruitful and multiply, if men shun what is signified by eating blood and by shedding blood, that is, if they do not extinguish charity by hatreds and profanations.
1019. Verse 8. And God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying. “God said unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,” signifies the truth of the things that follow in regard to the spiritual church, which is meant by “Noah and his sons with him.”
1020. That these things are signified is evident from the fact that all things put historically, from the first chapter of Genesis to Eber in the eleventh chapter, signify things quite different from those which appear in the letter, and the historical series is only made-up history, after the manner of the most ancient people, who when they would attest the truth of a thing, declared that “Jehovah said” it. Here however it is said that “God” said, because the subject treated of is the spiritual church. They used the same form of speaking when anything true was coming to pass, or had done so.
1021. That by “Noah and his sons with him” is signified the Ancient Church, has been shown before, and will be evident in what follows in this chapter, so that there is no need to confirm it now.
1022. Verses 9, 10. And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and every wild animal of the earth with you; of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth. “And I, behold, I establish My covenant” signifies the presence of the Lord in charity; “with you” signifies the regenerate spiritual man; “and with your seed after you” signifies those who are being created anew; “and with every living soul that is with you” signifies in general all things in man that have been regenerated; “the fowl” signifies specifically the things of his understanding; “the beast” the things of his new will; “and every wild animal of the earth” signifies the lower things of his understanding and those of his will therefrom; “with you” signifies here as before what is in the regenerate spiritual man; “of all that go out of the ark” signifies the men of the church; “even every wild animal of the earth” signifies the men outside of the church.
1023. And I, behold, I establish My covenant. That this signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of “covenant” as shown above (n. 666), where it was shown that a “covenant” signifies regeneration, and indeed the conjunction of the Lord with the regenerate man by love; and that the heavenly marriage is that veriest covenant itself, and consequently so is the heavenly marriage with every regenerate man. This marriage or covenant has been treated of before. With the man of the Most Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was in the Own of his will part, but with the man of the Ancient Church the heavenly marriage was effected in the Own of his intellectual part. For when man’s will part had become wholly corrupt, the Lord miraculously separated the Own of his intellectual part from that corrupt Own of his will part, and in the Own of his intellectual part He formed a new will, which is conscience, and into the conscience insinuated charity, and into the charity innocence, and thus conjoined Himself with man, or what is the same, made a covenant with him. So far as the Own of man’s will part can be separated from this Own of the intellectual part, the Lord can be present with him, or conjoin Himself, or enter into a covenant with him. Temptations and the like means of regeneration cause the Own of man’s will part to be quiescent, to become as nothing, and as it were to die. So far as this is done the Lord through conscience implanted in the Own of man’s intellectual part can work in charity. And this is what is here called a “covenant.”
1024. With you. That this signifies the regenerate spiritual man, is evident from what has been said before, namely, that Noah and his sons signify the spiritual church which succeeded the Most Ancient celestial church; and since the church is signified, so also is each man of the church, thus the regenerate spiritual man.
1025. And with your seed after you. That this signifies those who are being created anew, is evident from the signification of “seed” and also from what follows. From the signification of “seed” inasmuch as “seed” signifies in the literal sense posterity, but in the internal sense faith; and since, as has been often said, there is no faith except where there is charity, it is charity itself which is meant in the internal sense by “seed.” From what follows it is evident that not only the man who is within the church is meant, but also the man who is without the church, thus the whole human race. Wherever there is charity, even among nations most remote from the church, there is “seed” for heavenly seed is charity. No man can do anything of good from himself, but all good is from the Lord. The good which the Gentiles do is also from the Lord, of whom, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. That the “seed of God” is faith, has been shown before (n. 255). By faith there, and elsewhere, is meant the charity from which is faith; for there is no other faith that is faith, than the faith of charity.
[2] It is the same also in other places in the Word where “seed” is named, as the “seed of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob” by which is signified love or charity. For Abraham represented the celestial love, and Isaac the spiritual love, which are of the internal man. Jacob represented the same, but that of the external man. It is so not only in the prophetic, but also in the historic parts of the Word. The history in the Word is not perceived in heaven, but what is signified by it. The Word was written not only for man, but also for angels. When man reads the Word and takes from it nothing but the literal sense, angels then take not the literal, but the internal sense. The material, worldly, and corporeal ideas which man has when he reads the Word, become with angels spiritual and heavenly ideas-as when man reads about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the angels do not think at all of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but of what is represented and thus signified by them.
[3] So with Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the angels do not know of these persons, nor perceive anything else than the Ancient Church; and the interior angels do not even perceive the church, but the faith of that church, and according to the connection the state of the things treated of. Thus when “seed” is mentioned in the Word (as here the seed of Noah, that a covenant was made with them and with their seed after them), angels do not perceive such a posterity; for there was no Noah, but the Ancient Church was so called; and by “seed” angels understand charity, which was the essential of the faith of that church. And again when in the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob their “seed” is spoken of, angels never understand the posterity of these men, but all in the universe, both in the church and out of it, in whom there is heavenly seed, or charity; and the interior angels perceive love itself-abstractedly-which is heavenly seed.
[4] That by “seed” is signified love, and also everyone in whom there is love, is evident from the following passages in Genesis:
And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land (Gen. 12:7);
and again:
All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever; and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth (Gen. 13:15-16).
Those who are in the sense of the letter do not apprehend anything else than that by “seed” is meant the posterity of Abram, and by this “land” the land of Canaan, especially as this land was given to his posterity. But those who are in the internal sense, as is the whole heaven, by the “seed of Abram” perceive nothing else than love; by the “land of Canaan” nothing else than the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens and on the earth; and in the land’s being given them they perceive nothing but its representation, of which, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, elsewhere. And again it is said of Abram:
Jehovah led him forth abroad, and said, Look up now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be (Gen. 15:15).Here likewise Abram is named because he represented love, or saving faith; and by his “seed” no other posterity is meant, in the internal sense, than all in the universe who have love.
[5] Again:
And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be to them for God; this is My covenant, which thou shalt keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee, that every male be circumcised unto you (Gen. 17:7-8, 10).
Here “establishing His covenant” likewise signifies the conjunction of the Lord with men throughout the universe by love, which love was represented by Abram. From this it is evident what is signified by his “seed” namely, all in the universe who have love. The covenant here treated of was circumcision, by which is never understood in heaven circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision of the heart, which those have who have love. Circumcision was a representative of regeneration by love, as is clearly explained in Moses:
And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live (Deut. 30:6),
from which it is evident what circumcision is in the internal sense; and therefore wherever circumcision is mentioned, nothing else is meant than love and charity, and the life therefrom.
[6] That by the “seed of Abraham” all in the universe who have love are signified, is evident also from the words of the Lord to Abraham and to Isaac. To Abraham, after he was willing to sacrifice Isaac as commanded, the Lord said:
In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall inherit the gate of thine enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 22:17-18),
where it is plainly evident that by “seed” is meant all in the universe who have love.
[7] As Abraham represented celestial love, as already said, so Isaac represented spiritual love; and therefore by the “seed of Isaac” nothing else is signified than every man in whom there is spiritual love, or charity. Of him it is said:
Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed (Gen. 26:3-4, 24),
where it is manifest that all nations are meant who are in charity. Celestial love was represented by Abraham as the father of the spiritual love that was represented by Isaac; for the spiritual is born of the celestial, as shown above.
[8] As Jacob represented the externals of the church, which come forth from the internals, and thus all things springing in the external man from love and charity, by his “seed” is signified all in the universe who have external worship in which is internal, and who do works of charity in which there is charity from the Lord. Of this “seed” it was said to Jacob after he had seen the ladder in his dream:
I am Jehovah, the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the ground be blessed (Gen. 28:13-14; 32:12; 48:4).
[9] That such is the signification of “seed” is evident from the passages of the Word cited above (n. 255); and also from the following. In Isaiah:
But thou, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, My friend (Isa. 41:8),where the subject is the regeneration of man; and, as is often the case, a distinction is made between Israel and Jacob, and by “Israel” is signified the internal spiritual church, by “Jacob” the externals of the same church, and both are called the “seed of Abraham” that is, of the celestial church, because the celestial, spiritual, and natural follow one another in succession. In Jeremiah:
I had planted thee a wholly noble vine, a seed of truth; how then art thou turned into the degenerate ones of a strange vine unto Me? (Jer. 21:21).
This is said of the spiritual church, which is a “noble vine” whose charity, or faith of charity, is called a “seed of truth.”
[10] Again:
As the army of the heavens cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me (Jer. 33:22),
where “seed” plainly denotes heavenly seed, for by David is signified the Lord. That the seed of David was not as the army of the heavens that cannot be numbered, neither as the sand of the sea that cannot be measured, is known to everyone. Again:
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and He shall reign as king and shall act intelligently, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land; in His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our righteousness therefore behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that they shall no more say, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt but, As Jehovah liveth, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country (Jer. 23:5-8).
Here things very different from those appearing in the letter are signified. David is not meant by “David” nor Judah by “Judah” nor Israel by “Israel;” but by “David” is signified the Lord, by “Judah” what is celestial, by “Israel” what is spiritual; and therefore by “the seed of Israel” those who have charity, or the faith of charity.
[11] In David:
Ye that fear Jehovah, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed of Israel (Ps. 22:23),where by “the seed of Israel” no other seed is meant than the spiritual church. In Isaiah:
A seed of holiness is the stock thereof (Isa. 6:13),
meaning remains which are holy, because they are the Lord’s. Again:
I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah a possessor of My mountains; and Mine elect shall possess it, and My servants shall dwell there (Isa. 65:9),
where the celestial church, external and internal, is treated of. Again:
They shall not generate for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah, and their offspring with them (Isa. 65:23),
where the subject is the new heavens and the new earth, or the kingdom of the Lord. Those who are therein, being “generated” from love, or regenerated, are called the “seed of the blessed of Jehovah.”
1026. And with every living soul that is with you. That this signifies in general all things in man that are regenerated, is evident from what precedes and from what follows, and also from the signification of “living.” Everything is called “living” that has received life from the Lord, and everything a “living soul” that lives therefrom in the regenerate man. For according to the life which the regenerate man receives, everything in him is living, as well the things of his reason as his affections; and this life is apparent in everything of his thought and speech in the sight of angels, but not in that of man.
1027. The fowl. That this signifies specifically the things of his understanding, is evident from what has been said and shown before about fowls (n. 40, 776).
1028. The beast. That this signifies specifically the things of his new will, is evident also from what has been said and shown before concerning beasts and their signification (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 776).
1029. And every wild animal of the earth. That this signifies the lower things of his understanding and those of his will therefrom, is evident also from what has been said and shown before as to the signification of a “wild animal.” For with every man there are things interior and things exterior. The interior are things of reason, here signified by “the fowl” and also affections, signified by the “beast.” The exterior are things of knowledge [scientifica] and pleasures, which are here signified by the “wild animal of the earth.” That by “fowl, beast, and wild animal” is not signified any fowl, beast, or wild animal, but what is living in the regenerate man, anyone may know and conclude from this, that a covenant cannot be made by God with brute animals (yet it is said, “I establish My covenant with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth with you”), but with man, who is described by them in this way as to his interiors and exteriors.
1030. Of all that go out of the ark. That this signifies the men of the church, and that “even every wild animal of the earth” signifies the man who is outside the church, is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for all that went forth from the ark have been named before-as every living soul, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth-and here it is said again, “of all that go out of the ark, even every wild animal of the earth.” Thus the “wild animal of the earth” is named a second time, and there would not be this repetition unless something else were here meant. And there also follows: “I will establish My covenant with you” as was said before. From this it is evident that by “those going out of the ark” are signified the regenerate, or the men of the church, and by the “wild animal of the earth” is signified all in the universe who are outside the church.
[2] The “wild animal of the earth” in the Word, when living things are not meant by it, signifies those things which are more vile and partake more or less of the ferine nature, and this in accordance with the subject of which it is predicated. When it is predicated of what is in man, then the “wild animal of the earth” signifies lower things which are of the external man and of the body, as presently in this same verse, and thus what is more vile. When it is predicated of an entire society, which is called a composite man or person, then the “wild animal of the earth” signifies those who are not of the church, because they are more vile; and so in other cases according to the subject of which it is predicated. As in Hosea:
In that day will I make a covenant for them with the wild animal of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping thing of the earth (Hos. 2:18).
In Isaiah:
The wild animal of the field shall honor Me, because I give waters in the wilderness (Isa. 43:20).
In Ezekiel:
All the birds of the heavens made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches all the wild animals of the field brought forth, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezek. 31:6).
1031. Verse 11. And I will establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood; neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth. “And I will establish My covenant with you” signifies the presence of the Lord with all who have charity, and refers to those who go forth from the ark and to every wild animal of the earth, that is, to men within the church and men without the church; “neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood” signifies that they shall not perish like the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church; “neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth” signifies that there shall not come forth any such deadly and suffocating persuasion.
1032. And I will establish my covenant with you. That this signifies the presence of the Lord with all who have charity, and refers to those who go forth from the ark and to every wild animal of the earth, that is, to men within the church and men without, is evident from what has been said just above. That the Lord enters into a covenant, or conjoins Himself by charity, with Gentiles also who are outside the church, shall now be shown. The man of the church supposes that all who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, cannot be saved, because they have no knowledges of faith, and are therefore wholly ignorant of the Lord, saying that without faith and without knowledge of the Lord there is no salvation, and thus he condemns all who are out of the church. Indeed many of this sort who are in some doctrine, even if it be heresy, suppose that all outside this, that is, all who do not hold the same opinion, cannot be saved; when in fact the case is not so at all. The Lord has mercy toward the whole human race, and wills to save and draw to Himself all who are in the universe.
[2] The mercy of the Lord is infinite, and does not suffer itself to be limited to those few who are within the church, but extends itself to all in the whole world. Their being born out of the church and being thus in ignorance of faith, is not their fault; and no one is ever condemned for not having faith in the Lord when he is ignorant of Him. Who that thinks aright will ever say that the greatest part of the human race must perish in eternal death because they were not born in Europe, where there are comparatively few? And who that thinks aright will say that the Lord suffered so great a multitude to be born to perish in eternal death? This would be contrary to the Divine, and contrary to mercy. And besides, those who are out of the church, and are called Gentiles, live a much more moral life than those who are within the church, and embrace much more easily the doctrine of true faith, as is still more evident from souls in the other life. The worst of all come from the so-called Christian world, holding the neighbor in deadly hatred, and even the Lord. Above all others in the whole world they are adulterers.
[3] It is not so with those from other parts of the world. Very many of those who have worshiped idols are of such a disposition as to abhor hatred and adultery, and to fear Christians because of their being of this character and desirous of tormenting everyone. Indeed Gentiles are so disposed as to listen readily, when taught by angels about the truths of faith, and that the Lord rules the universe, and to be easily imbued with faith and thus to reject their idols. For this reason Gentiles who have lived a moral life and in mutual charity and innocence, are regenerated in the other life. While they live in the world the Lord is present with them in charity and innocence, for there is nothing of charity and innocence except from the Lord. The Lord also gives them a conscience of what is right and good according to their religion, and insinuates innocence and charity into that conscience; and when there is innocence and charity in the conscience, they easily suffer themselves to be imbued with the truth of faith from good. The Lord Himself said this, in Luke:
And one said unto Him, Lord, are they few that be saved? and He said unto them, Ye shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without; and they shall come from the east and the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God; and behold, there are last who shall be first, and there are first who shall be last (Luke 13:23, 28-30).
By “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” are here meant all who have love, as shown above.
1033. With regard to a conscience of what is right and good being given to Gentiles according to their religion, the case is this, Conscience, in general, is either true, spurious, or false. True conscience is that which is formed by the Lord of the truths of faith. When a man has been gifted with this, he fears to act contrary to the truths of faith, because he would thus act contrary to conscience. This conscience no one can receive who is not in the truths of faith, and therefore there are not very many in the Christian world who receive it, for each one sets up his own dogma as the truth of faith. But still those who are being regenerated receive conscience together with charity, for the very ground of conscience is charity. Spurious conscience is that which is formed with Gentiles from their religious worship into which they have been born and educated, to act contrary to which is to them to act contrary to conscience. When their conscience has been founded in charity and mercy, and in obedience, they are in such a state that they can receive true conscience in the other life, and they also do receive it; for they love nothing before and beyond the truth of faith. False conscience is that which is formed, not from internal but from external things, that is, not from charity but from the love of self and of the world. For there are those who seem to themselves to act contrary to conscience when they act against the neighbor, and also seem to themselves to be then inwardly pained; and yet it is for the reason that they perceive in their thought that their life, honor, fame, wealth, or gain, is thus imperiled, and therefore they themselves are injured. Some inherit such a softness of heart, some acquire it; but it is a false conscience.
1034. Neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood. That this signifies that they should not perish, as did the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church, is evident from what has been said before about those before the flood, who perished, being signified by those who were cut off by the waters of the flood. It has been shown before (n. 310) how the case was, namely, that the last posterity of the Most Ancient Church was of such a nature that both the will part and the intellectual part of their mind, had become corrupt, so that the intellectual could not be separated from the will, and a new will be formed in the intellectual, since both parts of their mind cohered together. And because this was foreseen, it was also provided by the Lord that the intellectual in man might be separated from the will, and thus be renewed. And therefore because it was provided that such men as were that race before the flood should not afterwards exist, therefore it is here said, “neither shall all flesh be cut off anymore by the waters of the flood.”
1035. Neither shall there anymore be a flood to destroy the earth. That this signifies that such a deadly and suffocating persuasion should no longer come forth, is evident from the signification of “a flood” relatively to the antediluvians who perished, as described above; as well as from their direful persuasions (n. 311, 563, 570, 581, 586); as also from what has been shown of the succeeding church, called “Noah;” and further from what follows concerning the rainbow.
1036. Verses 12, 13. And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living soul that is with you, for the generations of an age: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. “And God said” signifies that it was so; “this is the sign of the covenant” signifies an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity; “which I make between Me and you” signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man by charity; “and every living soul that is with you” signifies as before all things in man that have been regenerated; “for the generations of an age” signifies all perpetually who are being created anew; “I have set My bow in the cloud” signifies the state of the regenerated spiritual man, which is like a rainbow; “the cloud” signifies the obscure light in which is the spiritual man relatively to the celestial; “and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth” signifies as before an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity; “the earth” is here that which is man’s own. All these things regard the regenerate spiritual man, or the spiritual church.
1037. And God said. That this signifies that it was so, has been said and shown before; for the “saying of God” or “of Jehovah” signifies that it was so. The most ancient people arranged the things of the church in the form of history; and when they wished to affirm that a thing was so, they said that “God said” or “Jehovah said” and this was their form of asseveration and confirmation.
1038. This is the sign of the covenant. That this signifies an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, is evident from the signification of a “covenant” and of a “sign of a covenant.” That a “covenant” signifies the presence of the Lord in charity, has been shown before (Gen. 6:18, and above in the present chapter, verse 9). That a “covenant” is the presence of the Lord in love and charity, is evident from the nature of a covenant. Every covenant is for the sake of conjunction, that is, for the sake of living in mutual friendship, or love. Marriage also is for this reason called a covenant. There is no conjunction of the Lord with man except in love and charity; for the Lord is love and mercy itself. He wills to save everyone and to draw him with mighty power to heaven, that is, to Himself. From this everyone may know and conclude that no one can ever be conjoined with the Lord except through that which He Himself is, that is, except by becoming like or making one with Him-in other words, by loving the Lord in return and loving the neighbor as himself. By this alone is the conjunction effected. This is the veriest essence of a covenant. When there is conjunction from this, it then follows manifestly that the Lord is present. There is indeed the very presence of the Lord with every man, but it is nearer or more remote exactly according to the approach to love or the distance from love.
[2] Because the “covenant” is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, or what is the same, the presence of the Lord with man in love and charity, it is called in the Word the “covenant of peace;” for “peace” signifies the kingdom of the Lord, and the kingdom of the Lord consists in mutual love, in which alone is peace. As in Isaiah:
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My mercy shall not depart from thee, neither shall My covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee (Isa. 54:10),
where mercy, which is of love, is called a “covenant of peace.” In Ezekiel:
I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even My servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd; and I will make with them a covenant of peace (Ezek. 34:23, 25),
where by “David” is plainly meant the Lord; and His presence with the regenerate man is described by His feeding” them.
[3]
Again:
My servant David shall be king over them; and there shall be to them all one shepherd, and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will set them, and will cause them to multiply, and will put My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Ezek. 37:24, 26-27),
where in like manner the Lord is meant by “David;” love, by “His sanctuary in the midst of them;” the presence and conjunction of the Lord in love, by “His being their God and by their being His people” which is called a “covenant of peace” and an “everlasting covenant.” In Malachi:
Ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, saith Jehovah of armies; My covenant was with him of lives and peace; and I gave them to him in fear, and he shall fear Me (Mal. 2:4-5).
“Levi” in the supreme sense is the Lord, and hence the man who has love and charity, and therefore the covenant of lives and peace with Levi is in love and charity.
[4] In Moses, speaking of Phinehas:
Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an eternal priesthood (Num. 25:12-13),
where by “Phinehas” is not meant Phinehas, but the priesthood which was represented by him, which signifies love and what is of love, as does all the priesthood of that church. Everyone knows that Phinehas did not have an eternal priesthood. Again:
Jehovah thy God, He is God; the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments, to the thousandth generation (Deut. 7:9, 12),
where it is plain that the presence of the Lord with man in love is the “covenant” for it is said that He keepeth it with them that love Him and keep His commandments.
[5] Since a “covenant” is the conjunction of the Lord with man by love, it follows that it is also by all things that pertain to love, which are the truths of faith, and are called precepts; for all precepts, indeed the Law and the Prophets, are founded on the one Law, to love the Lord above all things and the neighbor as oneself, as is evident from the words of the Lord (Matt. 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34). And therefore the tables on which were written the ten commandments, are called the “Tables of the Covenant.” Since a covenant, or conjunction, is effected through the laws or precepts of love, it was effected also through the laws of society given by the Lord in the Jewish Church, which are called “testimonies;” and also through the rites of the church enjoined by the Lord, called “statutes.” All these things are said to be of the “covenant” because they regard love and charity, as we read of Josiah the king:
The king stood upon the pillar, and made a covenant before Jehovah, to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments, and His testimonies, and His statutes, with all the heart and with all the soul, to establish the words of this covenant (2 Kings 23:3).
[6] From these things it is now evident what a “covenant” is, and that the covenant is internal; for the conjunction of the Lord with man takes place by what is internal, and never by what is external separate from what is internal. External things are only types and representatives of internal, as the action of a man is a type representative of his thought and will; and as the work of charity is a type representative of the charity which is within, in the heart and mind. So all the rites of the Jewish Church were types representative of the Lord, consequently of love and charity, and of all things therefrom. Wherefore it is through the internals of man that a covenant and conjunction is made, and externals are only signs of the covenant, as indeed they are called. That a covenant and conjunction is made through internals is plainly evident, as in Jeremiah:
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, forasmuch as they made vain My covenant but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days, saith Jehovah; I will put My law in their inward parts and write it on their heart (Jer. 31:31-33),
where a new church is treated of. It is clearly stated that the veriest covenant is through the internals, and indeed in conscience on which the Law is inscribed, all of which is of love, as has been said.
[7] That external things are not the “covenant” unless internal things are adjoined to them, and thus by union act as one and the same cause; but are only “signs” of the covenant by means of which as by representative types the Lord might be kept in remembrance, is evident from the fact that the Sabbath and circumcision are called “signs” of the covenant. That the Sabbath is so called, we read in Moses:
The sons of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant; it is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel eternally (Exod. 31:16-17).
And that circumcision also is so called, in the same:
This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; that every male be circumcised unto you; and ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and you (Gen. 17:10-11).
Hence also blood is called the “blood of the covenant” (Exod. 24:7-8).
[8] External rites are called “signs of a covenant” for the reason chiefly that interior things may be kept in mind by them, that is, the things signified by them. All the rites of the Jewish Church were nothing else. And for this reason they were also called “signs” that the people might be reminded by them of interior things-as for instance, the binding of the chief commandment on the hand and on the forehead, as in Moses:
Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might; and these words thou shalt bind for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes (Deut. 6:5, 8; 11:13, 18).
Here “hand” signifies the will because it signifies power, for power is of the will; “frontlets between the eyes” signify the understanding; thus the “sign” signifies remembrance of the chief commandment, or of the Law in sum, that it may be continually in the will and in the thought, that is, that the presence of the Lord and of love may be in all the will and in all the thought. Such is the presence of the Lord and of mutual love from Him with the angels, which continual presence will be further described, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, hereafter. In like manner, in the present verse its being said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you: I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth” signifies no other sign than an indication of the presence of the Lord in charity, thus the remembrance of Him in man. But how there is thence, or from the bow in the cloud, a sign and remembrance, will be told, of the Lord’s Divine mercy, in what follows.
1039. Which I make between Me and you. That this signifies the conjunction of the Lord with man by charity, is evident from what has now been said of the covenant and the sign of the covenant. For the “covenant” is the presence of the Lord in charity. “Between Me and you” is conjunction therefrom. “Making” is causing to be.
1040. And every living soul that is that with you. That this signifies all things in man that have been regenerated, is evident from the signification of “living soul” shown above at verse 10. For “soul” in the Word signifies, as before said, all man’s life both internal and external, and even that of animals from their signifying what is in man. But that is properly a “living soul” which receives life from the Lord, that is, which is regenerate, because this alone is living. And because “soul” signifies man’s life both internal and external, “living soul” signifies in one complex all things in man that have been regenerated. In man there are things of the will and things of the understanding, the two being most distinct; and with a living man all of these both in general and in particular are also living; for the fact is that such as a man is, such are all things in him both in general and in particular; his general life itself is in everything.
[2] For every general is derived from all the component items, as from its own particulars; in no other way can any general come into existence, for it is called a general because it comes forth from particulars. Therefore such as is a man’s life in general, such is it in the most minute atoms of his effort and intention-that is, of his will-and in the most minute atoms of his thought; so that there cannot be the smallest bit of an idea in which the life is not the same. As for example with a haughty man; in every single effort of his will and in every single idea of his thought there is haughtiness; with him who is covetous there is in like manner covetousness, and so with him who hates his neighbor; just as with the stupid man there is stupidity in everything of his will and everything of his thought, and with him who is insane there is insanity. Since this is the nature of man, in the other life his quality is known from a single idea of his thought.
[3] When a man has been regenerated, then all things in him, both in general and in particular, have also been regenerated, that is, have life, and the life they have bears an exact proportion to the degree in which his own will-which is foul and dead-could be separated from the new will and intellectual that he has received from the Lord. Therefore as the subject here treated of is the regenerated man, the “living soul” signifies all things in the man that have been regenerated, which, in general, are all the things of his understanding and of his will, both interior and exterior, and which were expressed before, in the tenth verse, by the “fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth;” for it is said, “I establish My covenant with every living soul that is with you, the fowl, the beast, and the wild animal of the earth.”
Emanuel Swedenborg · Clowes / Potts English edition · Source edition · German edition.