1238 – 2474

AC (Elliott) n. 1238 sRef Gen@10 @24 S0′ 1238. As for Eber meaning a nation as well, whose father was thus named Eber, the position is this: Those named so far were nations with whom the Ancient Church existed. All of them were called sons of Shem, Ham, Japheth, or Canaan, because ‘Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan’ meant differing types of worship in the Church. Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Canaan never were actual people, but because the Ancient Church in particular was such, and every Church in general is such, that it includes a true internal, a corrupted internal, a true external, and a corrupted external, these names were therefore adopted so that all differences in general could be related to those characters and their sons as to their heads. The nations named here also at first possessed such worship, for which reason they are called the sons of one of Noah’s sons, and also such forms of worship themselves are meant by the names of these nations in the Word.

[2] This first Ancient Church meant by Noah and his sons was not confined to a few people but was spread throughout many kingdoms, as is clear from the nations mentioned – throughout Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia up to Tyre and Sidon, and throughout the whole of the land of Canaan, on this side of the Jordan and on the other side. Subsequently however a certain type of external worship started in Syria which spread far and wide from there and through many countries, particularly Canaan. It was a different form of worship from the worship of the Ancient Church. And because something of a Church arose in this way that was separate from the Ancient Church, a new Church so to speak rose up from it which may therefore be called the second Ancient Church. Eber was its first founder, and therefore this Church took its name from Eber. As stated already, everybody at that time was distinguished into separate houses, families, and nations. One nation recognized one father from whom it also took its name, as is clear throughout the Word, the nation which recognized Eber as its father thus being called the Hebrew nation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1239 sRef Gen@10 @24 S0′ 1239. That ‘Eber’ means the second Ancient Church which was separate from the previous Church is clear from what has just been stated.

AC (Elliott) n. 1240 sRef Gen@10 @25 S0′ 1240. Verse 25 And to Eber were born two sons, the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

‘Eber’ was the first founder of the second Ancient Church and means that Church. He had two sons by whom the two aspects of worship are meant – internal and external His two sons were called Peleg and Joktan, ‘Peleg’ meaning the internal worship of that Church, and ‘Joktan’ the external worship of that Church. ‘For in his days the earth was divided’ means that a new phase of the Church arose at that time ‘the earth’ here, as previously, meaning the Church. ‘His brother’s name was Joktan’ means the external worship of that Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1241 sRef Gen@10 @25 S0′ 1241. As regards Eber’s being the first founder of the second Ancient Church and meaning that Church, the situation is this: Spread far and wide, as has been stated, especially throughout the Asiatic world, the first Ancient Church degenerated in course of time – as all Churches do everywhere – and was adulterated by innovators as regards external worship as well as internal. And this happened in various places. It degenerated primarily through the conversion into idolatry, and among some nations into magic, of all the meaningful signs and the representatives which the Ancient Church received orally from the Most Ancient Church, all of which signs and representatives had reference to the Lord and His kingdom. To prevent the whole Church from going to ruin the Lord permitted worship made up of meaningful signs and of representatives to be re-introduced in some place, which was done by Eber. It was a worship that consisted chiefly in things that are external. The external features of worship, in addition to priests and the things requiring priests, were high places, groves, pillars, anointings, and many other things that were called statutes. The internal features of worship were matters of doctrine that had come down from the time before the Flood, chiefly from those people called ‘Enoch’ who gathered together perceptions the Most Ancient Church had possessed and made these into matters of doctrine. These matters of doctrine constituted their Word; and from these internal things and the previously mentioned external things came the worship of this Church, a form of worship established by Eber, but added to and also altered. Above all they began to make sacrifices more important than any other ritual forms. Sacrifices had been unknown in the true Ancient Church, and had existed solely among some of Ham’s and Canaan’s descendants who were idolaters, where those sacrifices had been permitted to prevent them from sacrificing their own sons and daughters. From these considerations it is clear what this second Ancient Church was like which was established by Eber and perpetuated among his descendants called the Hebrew nation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1242 sRef Gen@10 @25 S0′ 1242. ‘Eber’s two sons’ means the two aspects of worship – internal and external – and these two sons were called Peleg and Joktan, ‘Peleg’ meaning the internal worship of that Church, and ‘Joktan’ the external worship of that Church. This is clear chiefly from the fact that ‘Eber and the Hebrew nation’ means in the internal sense this second Ancient Church, and also because every Church has an internal and an external, for without the internal it neither is nor can be called a Church, but idolatry. Since ‘sons’ has reference to aspects of the Church it is clear that one son means the internal aspect of the Church, the other the external. A similar duality frequently occurs elsewhere in the Word, for example, that meant previously by Lamech’s wives, Adah and Zillah, 409, and that meant later on by Leah and Rachel, and by Jacob and Israel, and others like these. The descendants of Joktan are dealt with in this chapter, those of Peleg in the next.

AC (Elliott) n. 1243 sRef Gen@10 @25 S0′ 1243. ‘For in his days the earth was divided’ means that a new phase of the Church arose at that time. This is clear from what has been said above, for by ‘the earth’ is meant nothing other than the Church, as manifestly shown already in 622, 1066.

AC (Elliott) n. 1244 sRef Gen@10 @25 S0′ 1244. That ‘his brother’s name was Joktan’ means the external worship of that Church has been shown just above. That external worship is called ‘a brother’, see above at verse 21 of this chapter where Shem is referred to as ‘Japheth’s elder brother’. This explains why the word ‘brother’ is added here.

AC (Elliott) n. 1245 sRef Gen@10 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @26 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @27 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @26 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @27 S0′ 1245. Verses 26-29 And Joktan begot Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab. All of these are the sons of Joktan.

These were just so many nations consisting of the families of Eber, which mean just so many types of ritual forms.

AC (Elliott) n. 1246 sRef Gen@10 @27 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @27 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @26 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @26 S0′ 1246. That these were just so many nations consisting of the families of Eber becomes clear from their condition at that time. As stated already, in most ancient times nations lived distinguished into separate families, and families into houses. Each nation recognized one father from whom it took its name. When the sons of one father multiplied they in a similar way constituted houses, families, and nations, and so on; as did those who were the sons of Joktan. This becomes clear from the sons of Jacob who at a later time when they multiplied constituted tribes, each one of which recognized as its father, and took its name from, one of the sons of Jacob. But taken all together they were descended from Jacob, and were called Jacob. In the same way these nations were descended from Eber and were called the Hebrews.

AC (Elliott) n. 1247 sRef Gen@10 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @27 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @26 S0′ 1247. That those nations mean just so many types of ritual forms is clear from the consideration that names in the Word never mean anything other than real things, for the Word in the internal sense has regard solely to the Lord, His kingdom in heaven and on earth, and consequently to the Church and the things that constitute the Church. And so it is with the names involved here. And because ‘Eber’s son Joktan’ means the external worship of this new Church, as stated already, ‘his sons’ cannot mean anything other than the things that constitute external worship, which are forms of ritual, and indeed just so many types of these. But what those forms were cannot be stated because their nature is determined by the actual kind of worship to which they belong, and until that is known, nothing can be said about the forms of ritual that belong to it. Neither would any use be served in knowing them. Nor do any of these names recur in the Word, apart from Sheba, Ophir, and Havilah, and even then they do not belong to this line of descent. For the Sheba and Havilah that are mentioned elsewhere in the Word descend from those who are called the sons of Ham, as is clear from verse 7 of this chapter. And the same applies to Ophir.

AC (Elliott) n. 1248 sRef Gen@10 @30 S0′ 1248. Verse 30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as you come towards Sephar, the mountain of the east.

These words mean the spread of the worship, even from the truths of faith to the good that stems from charity; ‘Mesha’ means truth, ‘Sephar’ good, and ‘the mountain of the east’ charity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1249 sRef Gen@10 @30 S0′ 1249. That these words mean the spread of the worship, even from the truths of faith to the good that stems from charity, ‘Mesha’ meaning truth, ‘Sephar’ good, cannot indeed be confirmed from the Word as no mention is made of Mesha or Sephar in the Prophets. Nevertheless the matter becomes clear from the fact that this verse stands as the conclusion to what has gone before, and especially from the fact that ‘the mountain of the east’ is the ultimate bound to which the preceding things look, and the fact that in the Word ‘the mountain of the east’ means charity from the Lord, as becomes clear from what follows below. The matter also becomes clear from the fact that all things of the Church look towards charity as their ultimate goal and end in view. From all this it follows that ‘Mesha’ means truth, or the boundary from which the thing begins, while ‘Sephar’ means good and so charity, meant by ‘the mountain of the east’, or the boundary to which it is directed.

AC (Elliott) n. 1250 sRef Ezek@43 @2 S0′ sRef Ezek@11 @22 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @30 S0′ sRef Ezek@11 @23 S0′ sRef Ezek@43 @1 S0′ 1250. That ‘the mountain of the east’ means charity, indeed charity from the Lord, is clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ in the Word as love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, as shown already in 795. And that ‘the east’ means the Lord, and consequently the celestial things of love and charity, see again what has appeared already in 101, and also in the following places: In Ezekiel,

The cherubs lifted up their wings. The glory of Jehovah went up from over the midst of the city and stood upon the mountain, which is on the east of the city. Ezek. 11:22, 23.

Here ‘the mountain which is on the east’ means nothing other than the celestial manifestation of the love and the charity that is the Lord’s, for it is said that ‘the glory of Jehovah stood there’. In the same prophet,

He brought me to the gate, to the gate facing the way of the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. Ezek. 43:1, 2.

Here ‘the east’ has a similar meaning.

sRef Ezek@46 @12 S2′ sRef Ezek@44 @2 S2′ sRef Ezek@44 @1 S2′ [2] In the same prophet,

And he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east, and it was shut. And Jehovah said to me, This gate shall be shut and not opened, and no man shall enter by it; but Jehovah, the God of Israel, will enter by it. Ezek. 44:1, 2.

Here similarly ‘the east’ stands for the celestial manifestation of the love that is the Lord’s alone. In the same prophet,

When the prince makes a freewill offering, a burnt offering, and peace offerings, as a freewill offering to Jehovah, one shall open for him the gate facing towards the east, and he shall make his burnt offering and his peace offerings, as he shall do on the sabbath day Ezek. 46:12.

Here similarly it stands for that which is celestial, which essentially is love to the Lord.

sRef Ezek@47 @1 S3′ sRef Ezek@47 @8 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

He brought me back to the door of the house, and behold, waters were issuing out from below the threshold of the house towards the east, for the house faced east. Ezek. 47:1, 8.

This refers to the new Jerusalem ‘The east’ stands for the Lord, and so for the celestial manifestation of love, while ‘waters’ means things that are spiritual. Here the same is meant by ‘the mountain of the east’. Furthermore those who dwelt in Syria were called ‘the sons of the east’, who will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be spoken of later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1251 sRef Gen@10 @31 S0′ 1251. Verse 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, according to their nations.

‘These were the sons of Shem’ means derivatives of the internal worship meant by ‘Shem’. ‘According to their families, according to their tongues, in their lands, in their nations’ means according to the disposition of each of them in particular and in general – ‘according to their families’ is according to differences as regards charity, ‘according to their tongues’ is according to differences as regards faith, ‘in their lands’ is in general in relation to matters of faith, ‘in their nations’ is in general in relation to matters of charity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1252 sRef Gen@10 @31 S0′ 1252. There is no need to provide any further confirmation that these things are meant, as the same words occur above in verse 20 – see what has been said there. Specific meanings – as with the meanings here of ‘families’, ‘tongues’, ‘lands’, and ‘nations’ – are determined by those things to which such expressions have reference. In verse 20 they are used in reference to Ham, or corrupted internal worship, but in this verse in reference to ‘Shem’, or true internal worship. Consequently ‘families and nations’ in verse 20 have regard to the habits and customs, and ‘tongues and lands’ to the individual beliefs, which belong to the corrupted internal Church; whereas ‘families and nations’ in this verse have regard to the charity, and ‘tongues and lands’ to the faith, which belong to the true internal Church. For the meaning of nations and families, see what follows in this chapter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1253 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1253. Verse 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations in their nations.

‘These are the families of the sons of Noah’ means the forms of worship of the Ancient Church in particular. ‘According to their generations’ means insofar as they were capable of being reformed. ‘In their nations’ means the Church’s forms of worship in general.

AC (Elliott) n. 1254 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1254. That ‘these are the families of the sons of Noah’ means the forms of worship of the Ancient Church in particular is clear from the meaning of ‘families’ and of ‘families of sons’ as forms of worship, and indeed specific forms of worship. The nations mentioned in previous verses of this chapter have meant nothing other than various forms of worship in the Ancient Church and therefore ‘the families’ which composed the nations can have no other meaning. In the internal sense no other families than those of spiritual and celestial things can possibly be meant.

AC (Elliott) n. 1255 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1255. That ‘according to their generations’ means insofar as they were capable of being reformed is clear from the meaning of ‘a generation’ as reformation. When someone is born again or regenerated by the Lord, every single thing he receives anew is in that case a generation. So also here, since the Ancient Church is the subject, ‘generations’ means insofar as they were capable of being reformed. As for the reformations of these nations, the latter did not all have the same form of worship, nor did they all have the same doctrine, the reasons being that they were not all of the same disposition, and had not all been brought up in the same ways and from early childhood been taught the same things. The Lord in no way destroys the basic attitudes a person acquires from early childhood, but modifies them. And if these are held sacred by the person and are such as do not stand contrary to Divine and natural order but are in themselves of little importance, the Lord lets them alone and allows them to remain with that person, as He did with many things in the second Ancient Church, which things will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be dealt with later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1256 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1256. ‘In their nations’ means the Church’s forms of worship in general. This is clear from what has been stated already about nations, and from what follows.

AC (Elliott) n. 1257 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1257. And from these the nations on the earth after the Flood were spread abroad.

‘From these the nations on the earth were spread abroad’ means that in these all the forms of that Church’s worship took rise – all forms that entailed goods and those that entailed evils, such goods or evils being meant by ‘the nations’, and the Church by ‘the earth’. ‘After the Flood’ means from the start of the Ancient Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1258 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1258. That ‘from these the nations on the earth were spread abroad’ means that in these all the forms of that Church’s worship took rise, all forms that entailed goods and those that entailed evils, and that these goods or evils are meant by ‘the nations’, is clear from the meaning of ‘nations’. As stated already, nation is used to mean a number of families grouped together, for a number of families that recognized the same father made up one nation in the Most Ancient and Ancient Churches. But with regard to ‘nations’ in the internal sense meaning forms of the Church’s worship, and in particular as to the goods or the evils entering into that worship, the situation is that when angels contemplate families and nations they never envisage a nation, but only the worship existing with it. For they contemplate all from the point of view of essential character, that is, what kind of people they are. The essential character or quality of a person from which heaven contemplates him is charity and faith. This any person may easily grasp if he considers that when he contemplates any individual, or any family, or any nation, he is thinking mainly of their character, each person doing so from that which rules in him at the time. A mental image of their character instantly comes to mind, and it is from this image that he considers them. This applies even more to the Lord, and from Him to the angels, who are incapable of contemplating a person, family, or nation except from the point of view of their character as regards charity and faith. This is why in the internal sense ‘nations’ means nothing other than the Church’s worship, and indeed as regards the essential character of that worship, which is good stemming from charity and the truth of faith from this. When the expression ‘nations’ occurs in the Word, angels never dwell on the idea of a nation in accordance with the historical sense of the letter, but on the idea of the good and truth present with the nation that is mentioned.

AC (Elliott) n. 1259 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1259. There is something further to be said about ‘nations’ meaning goods and evils within worship: In most ancient times people dwelt distinguished into separate nations, families, and houses, as stated already, in order that the Church on earth might represent the Lord’s kingdom where all people are distinguished into communities, those communities into larger ones, and these into still larger, all these distinctions existing according to general and specific differences of love and faith, about which see 684, 685. Thus the Lord’s kingdom is similarly distinguished so to speak into houses, families, and nations. This is why ‘houses, families, and nations’ in the Word means the goods that stem from love and its derivative faith, where also a careful distinction is made between nations and people. ‘Nation’ means good or evil, but ‘people’ truth or falsity. And this distinction is preserved so consistently as never to vary, as becomes clear from the following places:

sRef Isa@9 @2 S2′ sRef Isa@9 @3 S2′ [2] In Isaiah,

There will be on that day the root of Jesse which is standing as an ensign of the peoples; towards that root the nations will seek to go, and his rest will be glory. On that day the Lord will extend His hand a second time to acquire the remnants of His people, who remain from Asshur, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He will raise an ensign for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah. Isa. 11:10-12.

Here ‘peoples’ stands for the truths of the Church, ‘nations’ for its goods, between which a clear distinction is made. The subject here is the Lord’s kingdom and the Church, and in the universal sense every regenerate person. The names mentioned mean the things that have been described already. ‘Israel’ means the spiritual things of the Church, ‘Judah’ its celestial things. In the same prophet,

This people walking in darkness have seen a great light. You have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy. Isa. 9:2, 3.

Here ‘people’ stands for truths, hence the reference to ‘their walking in darkness and seeing a [great] light’. ‘Nation’ stands for goods.

sRef Isa@43 @9 S3′ sRef Isa@25 @7 S3′ sRef Isa@14 @32 S3′ sRef Isa@49 @22 S3′ sRef Isa@26 @2 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

What will one answer the messengers of the nation? That Jehovah has founded Zion, and in her the wretched members of His people will put their trust. Isa. 14:32.

Here likewise ‘nation’ stands for good, ‘people’ for truth. In the same prophet,

Jehovah Zebaoth will swallow up on this mountain the face* of the covering, of the covering over all peoples, and the veil that is spread over all nations. Isa. 25:7.

This refers to a new Church, that is, the Church of the nations. ‘People’ stands for its truths, ‘nations’ for its goods. In the same prophet,

Open the gates that the righteous nation that keeps faith may enter in. Isa. 26:2.

Here ‘nation’ plainly stands for goods. In the same prophet,

All the nations will be gathered together, and the peoples will be assembled. Isa. 43:9

This too refers to the Church of the nations. ‘Nations’ stands for its goods, and ‘peoples’ for its truths. And since the two are distinct and separate from each other, both are dealt with; otherwise it would be a pointless repetition. In the same prophet,

The Lord Jehovih said, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations and raise My ensign to the peoples; and they will bring your sons in their bosom and carry your daughters on their shoulder. Isa. 49:22.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom, ‘nations’ again standing for goods, and ‘peoples’ for truths.

sRef Isa@60 @5 S4′ sRef Isa@60 @3 S4′ sRef Isa@54 @3 S4′ sRef Isa@55 @5 S4′ sRef Isa@55 @4 S4′ [4] In the same prophet,

You will break out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations, and they will dwell in the desolate cities. Isa. 54:3.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom and to the Church called the Church of the nations. That ‘the nations’ stands for goods that stem from charity, or what amounts to the same, for people with whom the goods of charity exist, is clear from the promise that their ‘seed’, or faith, ‘will inherit them’. ‘Cities’ stands for truths. In the same prophet,

Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a Prince and Lawgiver to the peoples Lo, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation that knew you not will run to you. Isa. 55:4, 5.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Peoples’ stands for truths, ‘nations’ for goods. In the Church those who are endowed with goods that stem from charity are ‘nations’ while those who are endowed with truths of faith are ‘peoples’. For goods and truths are attributes of the subjects to which they apply. In the same prophet,

Nations will walk to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Then you will see and overflow, and your heart will be astounded and enlarged, because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, the armies of the nations will come to you. Isa. 60:3, 5.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom and the Church of the nations. ‘Nations’ stands for goods, while ‘kings’, who go together with ‘peoples’, stands for truths.

sRef Zeph@2 @9 S5′ sRef Ps@67 @4 S5′ sRef Ps@67 @3 S5′ sRef Gen@25 @23 S5′ sRef Zech@8 @22 S5′ sRef Ps@18 @43 S5′ [5] In Zephaniah,

The remnants of My people will plunder them, and the residue of My nation will inherit them. Zeph. 2:9.

In Zechariah,

Many peoples and numerous nations will come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem. Zech. 8:22.

‘Jerusalem’ stands for the Lord’s kingdom and for the Church, ‘peoples’ those with whom the truths of faith predominate, ‘nations’ for those with whom the goods of charity do so, and therefore they are mentioned separately. In David,

You will deliver me from the strivings of the people; You will set me as the head of nations. A people whom I have not known will serve me. Ps. 18:43.

Here similarly ‘people’ stands for those with whom truths predominate, ‘nations’ for those with whom good does so. And because these are what constitute the member of the Church, both are mentioned. In the same author,

The peoples will confess You, O God, all the peoples will confess You; the nations will be glad and exultant, for You will judge the peoples with uprightness, and You will guide the nations into the land. Ps. 67:3, 4.

‘Peoples’ clearly stands for those with whom truths of faith predominate, and ‘nations’ for those with whom the good of charity predominates.

sRef Deut@32 @7 S6′ sRef Deut@32 @8 S6′ [6] In Moses,

Remember the days of old, understand the years of generation after generation; ask your father and he will show you, and your elders and they will tell you, When the Most High gave to the nations an inheritance and separated the sons of man, He fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. Deut. 32:7, 8.

This refers to the Most Ancient Church and the Ancient Churches, which are respectively ‘the days of old’ and ‘the years of generation after generation’. Those with whom the good of charity predominated were called ‘the nations’ to whom an inheritance was given. ‘The sons of man’ and in the next sentence ‘the peoples’ mean those with whom the truths of faith deriving from charity predominated. Since ‘the nations’ means the goods of the Church and ‘the peoples’ its truths, it was therefore said of Esau and Jacob when they were still in the womb,

Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from your bowels. Gen. 25:23.

These places now make clear what the Church of the nations is in the genuine sense. The Most Ancient Church was the true Church of the nations, as was the Ancient Church after that.

[7] Since those governed by charity are called ‘nations’ and those governed by faith are called ‘peoples’, the Lord’s priesthood is therefore associated with ‘nations’ because it has reference to celestial things, which are goods, while His kingship is associated with ‘peoples’ because it has reference to spiritual things, which are truths This distinction was also represented in the Jewish Church in which they were ‘a nation’ before they had kings, but became ‘a people’ after they received them.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1260 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1260. Since ‘nations’ in the Most Ancient Church and in the Ancient Church meant goods or good persons, therefore also in the contrary sense they mean evils or evil persons Similarly with ‘peoples’; since these meant truths, therefore also in the contrary sense they mean falsities. For in a corrupted Church good is turned into evil, and truth into falsity, as a consequence of which the meaning of nations and peoples in that contrary sense occurs many times in the Word, as in Isa 13:4; 14:6; 18:2, 7; 30:28; 34:1, 2; Ezek. 20:13; and in many other places.

AC (Elliott) n. 1261 sRef Ps@96 @7 S0′ sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ sRef Ps@22 @27 S0′ sRef Ps@22 @28 S0′ 1261. As ‘nations’ meant goods so also did families, for each nation was composed of families. ‘Houses’ likewise had the same meaning, for each family was made up of a number of houses. Concerning a house, see 710. ‘Families’ however means goods when used in reference to nations, but truths when used in reference to peoples, as in David,

All the families of the nations will bow down before You, for the kingdom is Jehovah’s, and He rules among the nations. Ps. 22:27, 28.

And in the same author,

Give to Jehovah, O families of the peoples, give to Jehovah glory and strength! Ps 96:7.

In the present verse and in the previous verse of this chapter ‘families’ has reference to goods because they were families of nations.

AC (Elliott) n. 1262 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1262. From this it now becomes clear that ‘the earth’ here also means the Church; for when the earth is mentioned, one’s only perception is of the nation or people there, and when a nation or people is envisaged one’s only perception is of their character. Consequently ‘the earth’ means nothing other than the Church, as shown already in 662, 1066.

AC (Elliott) n. 1263 sRef Gen@10 @32 S0′ 1263. ‘After the Flood’ means from the start of the Ancient Church. This is clear from the fact that the Flood marked the end of the Most Ancient Church and the beginning of the Ancient Church, as shown already in 705, 739, 790.

AC (Elliott) n. 1264 1264. From all these considerations it now becomes clear that although no more than the names of nations and families occur in this chapter, it nevertheless contains in general not only all the different forms of worship as regards goods stemming from charity and as regards truths of faith that existed in the Ancient Church, but also those that exist in every Church. Indeed this chapter contains more than anyone can possibly believe. Such is the nature of the Word of the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1265 1265. THOSE BEFORE THE FLOOD WHO PERISHED

At some height overhead many spirits were present who flowed into my thoughts and held them so to speak in bonds, so that I was very much in obscurity. They were pressing down on me quite strongly. The spirits around me were similarly held by them so to speak in bonds, and so were able to think little apart from that which flowed in from those overhead, and this was enough to make them angry. I was told that those overhead were people who had lived before the Flood, though they were not from those called Nephilim who perished, for their power of persuasion was not so strong as the latter’s.

AC (Elliott) n. 1266 1266. Those before the Flood who perished are in a certain hell beneath the heel of the left foot. Shutting them in is a rock enveloped in mist which is a projection of their dreadful delusions and persuasions, and by which they are segregated from all other hells and kept apart from the world of spirits. They are continually pressing to come up out of there but can never get beyond the attempt to do so. For they are such that if they were to enter the world of spirits with their dreadful delusions and with the choking and toxic effects of their persuasions, they would deprive every spirit they met, apart from good ones, of his ability to think. And if the Lord by His Coming in the flesh had not freed the world of spirits of that abominable crew the human race would have perished Indeed no spirit could have stayed with man, and yet man cannot live a single moment unless spirits and angels are with him.

AC (Elliott) n. 1267 1267. Those of them who obstinately go on trying to get out of that hell are treated in a cruel fashion by their own companions, for they harbor deadly hatred against everyone, even against companions. Each of them finds his greatest delight in holding another in subjection to himself and so to speak doing him to death. And those who persist even more strenuously in the attempt to force their way out are sent even further down beneath the rock enveloped in mist. For it is an insane and deeply rooted desire to destroy everybody that spurs them on. Their efforts are the product of that desire. Whomever they meet they roll up in a cloth and* carry off as captives, and then cast them into what is seen by them as the sea, or else treat them savagely.
* Reading et (and) for ut (as)

AC (Elliott) n. 1268 1268. While protected I was guided towards that mist-covered rock. (Being guided towards such spirits does not involve movement from one place to another. It is achieved by means of intervening communities of spirits and angels, the individual staying where he is. Nevertheless it does seem to him like a downward journey.) When I drew near that rock I met with a coldness which gripped me in the lower part of the back. From where I was I spoke to them about their persuasions and asked them what they had believed concerning the Lord during their lifetime. They replied that they had thought much on the subject of God, but had persuaded themselves that no god existed and that human beings were gods, and so they themselves were gods. They had also confirmed themselves in these ideas from dreams. Their delusions against the Lord’s existence will be discussed below.

AC (Elliott) n. 1269 1269. To enable me to know better still what they were like, the Lord allowed some of them to come up into the world of spirits. Before this happened a beautiful boy clothed in a brilliant white garment appeared, and after that in an open doorway, another one in a green garment. Then two maid-servants appeared as well, wearing white head-dresses. What these things meant however was not disclosed to me.

AC (Elliott) n. 1270 1270. Soon after this some were let out of that hell, but the Lord so arranged it by means of spirits and angels in between that those let out could do me no harm. From that place deep down they moved to a forward position. To themselves they seemed to be pressing forward towards the front, so to speak through caverns in the rock, and in this way up to the top. They at length appeared up on the left so that from there, and so at a distance, they might flow into me. I was told that they were being allowed to flow into the right part of my head but not into the left, and then from the right part of the head into the left part of the chest. They were altogether prevented from flowing into the left part of my head, for if that were to happen I would be destroyed since they would in that case be flowing in with their own persuasions that are dreadful and deadly. But when they were flowing into the right part of the head and from there into the left part of the breast, they were doing so by means of evil desires. This is how it is with influx.

[2] Their persuasions are such as to destroy everything true and good. As a consequence those into whom they flow are unable to perceive anything, or after that even to think. This also was why the spirits were being removed. When they started to flow in I fell asleep. Then while I slept they flowed in by means of evil desires, so powerfully in fact that had I been awake I could not have withstood them. In my sleep I felt a pressure upon me which I cannot describe, only that I subsequently remembered that they had attempted to kill me by a stifling exhalation, which was like a terrible nightmare. At that point I woke up and noticed that they were near me. But when they realized that I was awake they fled to their own position higher up and flowed in from there.

[3] While they were there it seemed to me as though they were being rolled up in a cloth, as in the incident described in 964. I thought that it was those evil spirits who were being rolled up in it, but in fact it was they who were doing it to others. This is achieved by means of delusions, yet the spirits against whom they act in this way by delusions are not aware of anything other than of being actually rolled up. It seemed that those whom they were rolling up in this way rolled down the slope of some rock, but those who had been so rolled up were released and set free. They were spirits who did not wish to leave and so were preserved by the Lord or else they would have been suffocated. Although they would have revived they would have done so after much suffering. At that point those who had been allowed out from the hell below went back by way of the slope on the rock. From that place came a drilling sound as though many large drills were at work, and I perceived that the sound was the product of extremely painful delusions against the Lord’s existence. Subsequently they were sent down through the gloomy caverns beneath the rock enveloped in mist into their own hell While they were in the world of spirits the whole constitution of the sphere there was altered.

AC (Elliott) n. 1271 1271. After this there were certain deceitful spirits who wanted these who had lived before the Flood to come out To enable these to steal their way out, the deceitful spirits put it into their minds to say that they were nothing. At that point I heard a disturbance in that hell like a great. upheaval taking place. It was the commotion caused by those who desired to break free. Once again therefore some of them were allowed to come up from there and they appeared in the same place as their predecessors had done. From there they tried with the help of those deceitful genii to instill their deadly persuasion into me. But it was all to no avail as I was being protected by the Lord. I perceived quite clearly that their persuasion was stifling. They imagined that they had power over all things and could deprive anyone of his life. But because they imagined that they had power over all things it took no more than a small child to thrust them down, whose presence caused them to be so unsteady that they cried out they were in distress, so great in fact that they resorted to prayers. The deceitful ones were also punished, first of all by being almost choked by these who had been allowed out, and after that by being bound up tightly together to make them desist from such practices. But after a while they were set free.

AC (Elliott) n. 1272 1272. I was shown after that how their womenfolk were dressed. On their heads they wore a round black hat with a turret so to speak sticking up at the front. They had small faces. The men however were shaggy and hairy. I was also shown how much they gloried in the large number of children they had, and that wherever they went they were accompanied by their children who led the way in a curving line. They were told however that love of their young also existed with every animal, even the worst, and that this was no argument that they had anything good existing with them. But if they had loved children not for reasons of self-love and glory but so that, for the sake of the common good, the human community would be increased, and more importantly so that heaven might consequently be enlarged – and so for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom – their love towards children would in that case have been genuine.


AC (Elliott) n. 1273 1273. POSITION IN THE GRAND MAN, ALSO PLACE AND DISTANCE IN THE NEXT LIFE

When the time has come to allow souls recently arrived from the world to leave the company of spiritual angels in order to enter that of spirits and at length to enter the community which they were in during their lifetime, they are carried by angels around to many dwelling-places, which are separate communities yet joined to others. At each place they are taken in and then move on to other communities. This continues for some time until they reach the community which they were in during their lifetime; and there they stay. This marks a new beginning to their life. If someone is an impostor, a hypocrite, or deceitful – one who is able to assume a deceptive state and a seemingly angelic disposition – he is sometimes received by good spirits. But in a little while the association is broken, and then he wanders around unaccompanied by the angels, and begs to be received. He is however rejected, and sometimes punished, till at length he comes down to be among those in hell. Those who, after they have been vastated, are borne away to be among angels – they too pass from one community to another. And when they move on from one to another, those whom they are leaving allow them to go with civility and charity; and this continues until they reach the angelic community that accords with their own kind of charity, true piety, honesty, or genuine civility. So that I might know about all this I too have been conducted in a similar way through those dwelling-places, and those who are there have talked to me. I was at that time allowed to reflect on changes of place, that they were merely apparent, and that they were nothing else than changes of state, with the body remaining where it was.

AC (Elliott) n. 1274 1274. The marvels existing in the next life include the following:

1 Communities of spirits and of angels, as regards position, appear distinct and separate from one another, even though places and distances in the next life are nothing other than varieties of state.

2 Position and distances are relative to the human body, so that people on the right thus seem to be stationed on the right whichever way the body turns. The same applies to those on the left, or in any other direction.

3 No spirits and angels are so far away that they cannot be seen; yet no more come into view than the Lord allows to do so.

4 When the Lord allows it, spirits whom others are thinking about – for example, people who had been known to them in some way during their lifetime – are present in an instant. They come close enough to be heard or touched, or stand a little way off, notwithstanding the fact that they may have been several thousands of miles away, even up among the stars. The reason is that spatial distance is meaningless in the next life.

5 With angels no idea of time exists; it is the same in the world of spirits, but more completely so in heaven. What then must the situation be with the Lord, to whom every single human being is inescapably most fully present and beneath His view and Providence?

These things seem unbelievable but are nevertheless true.

AC (Elliott) n. 1275 1275. I was once in a community where there was a serenity, that is, the state of its members was serene, which came fairly near to being, but was not actually, a state of peace. I talked there about the state of small children, and also about place, to the effect that change of place and of distance is purely an appearance directly related to a person’s state and change of state. When I was taken there the spirits about me seemed to be removed and to reappear below me, though I could still hear them speaking.

AC (Elliott) n. 1276 1276. Spirits in the world of spirits, and angels in heaven, are positioned as follows: Angels are on the Lord’s right and evil spirits on His left. At the front are those of an intermediate kind, while the wicked are at the back. Overhead are those who are haughty and aspire to high things, and underfoot are the hells which correspond to those who are on high. In this way the positions of all are fixed in relation to the Lord, as to every direction and degree of height, horizontally and vertically, and in every oblique direction. Their positions remain constant, eternally the same. The heavens constitute so to speak one human being, who is therefore called the Grand Man, to which everything in the human being also corresponds. This correspondence will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be dealt with later on. Consequently the positioning of everything around each angel is similar, and around each person to whom heaven is opened by the Lord. This is an effect of the Lord’s presence, and could not happen if the Lord were not omnipresent in heaven.

AC (Elliott) n. 1277 1277. The same applies to men as regards their souls, which are linked constantly to some community of spirits or angels. Men too have a position in the Lord’s kingdom that is determined by the nature of their life and by their states. The fact that on earth men are distant from one another makes no difference at all. Even though many thousands of miles should separate them, they can still be present together in one community- those who live in charity in one angelic community, those who live in hatred and the like in one community in hell. Nor in like manner does the fact that many people on earth exist together in the same place make any difference – they are still all distinct and separate according to the nature of their life and of their states, each one possibly in a different community from the rest. When people who are several hundreds or thousands of miles distant from one another are seen with the eyes of internal sense they are so close that some are in a position to touch one another. Thus if a number of people existed on earth whose internal sight was open they would be able to be together and talk together even though one was in India and another in Europe, as I have also been shown. So every single person on earth is very present with the Lord, beneath His view and Providence.

AC (Elliott) n. 1278 1278. For a continuation concerning position, place, distance, and time in the next life, see the end of the chapter.

GENESIS 11

1 And the whole earth was of one lip, and its words were one.

2 And so it was that, when they travelled away from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.

3 And they said, one man to the next, Come, let us make bricks, and let us burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had bitumen for clay.

4 And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, and its head in heaven; and let us make a name for ourselves, lest perhaps we are scattered over the face* of the whole earth.

5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building.

6 And Jehovah said, See, they are one people, and they all have one lip, and this they have started to do; and now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing.

7 Come, let us go down, and let us there confound their lip so that they do not hear each man the lip of his companion.

8 And Jehovah scattered them from there over the face* of the whole earth; and they left off building the city.

9 Therefore He called the name of it Babel, because there Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth; and from there Jehovah scattered them over the face* of the whole earth.

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was a son of a hundred years, and he begot Arpachshad two years after the Flood.

11 And Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.

12 And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and he begot Shelah.

13 And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelah four hundred and three years; and he begot sons and daughters.

14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and he begot Eber.

15 And Shelah lived after he begot Eber four hundred and three years; and he begot sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived thirty-four years, and he begot Peleg.

17 And Eber lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years; and he begot sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and he begot Reu.

19 And Peleg lived after he begot Reu two hundred and nine years; and he begot sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and he begot Serug.

21 And Reu lived after he begot Serug two hundred and seven years; and he begot sons and daughters

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and he begot Nahor.

23 And Serug lived after he begot Nahor two hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and he begot Terah.

25 And Nahor lived after he begot Terah a hundred and nineteen years; and he begot sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 And these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begot Lot.

28 And Haran died in the presence** of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 And Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran, Milkah’s father and Iskah’s father.

30 And Sarai was barren; she had no offspring.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in- law, the wife of Abram his son; and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. And they came as far as Haran and remained there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
* lit. the faces
** lit. before the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1279 sRef Gen@11 @0 S0′ 1279. CONTENTS

The subject in verses 1-9 is the first Ancient Church, which came after the Flood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1280 sRef Gen@11 @0 S0′ 1280. Its first state, in which all its members had one doctrine, is dealt with in verse 1; its second state when it began to decline, in verse 2; its third, when falsities produced by evil desires began to reign, in verse 3; its fourth, when people began to dominate others by means of Divine worship, in verse 4. The state of the Church was consequently changed, verses 5, 6, so that nobody possessed the good present in faith, verses 7-9.

AC (Elliott) n. 1281 sRef Gen@11 @0 S0′ 1281. The subject in verses 10-26 is the second Ancient Church called Eber, its derivation and its state, which at length sank into idolatry.

AC (Elliott) n. 1282 sRef Gen@11 @0 S0′ 1282. The origin of the third Ancient Church, which from being idolatrous became representative, is dealt with in verses 27-32.

AC (Elliott) n. 1283 1283. THE INTERNAL SENSE

The subject now is the Ancient Church in general and the fact that its internal worship in process of time was falsified and adulterated; and so as a consequence was its external worship, for the character of external worship depends on that of internal. The falsification and adulteration of internal worship is meant here by Babel. The fact that the historical events mentioned up to now, apart from those concerning Eber, are not true but made-up may also be seen from the details given in this chapter concerning the tower of Babel – men set out to build a tower whose head was in heaven; their lips were confused so that no one could hear another; it was Jehovah who confused them in this way. This fact may also be seen from the assertion that this was the origin of Babel and yet verse 10 of the previous chapter says that Babel was built by Nimrod. From this it is also clear that Babel does not mean a city, but some real thing, and that here it means worship whose interior features are not holy though its external appear so.

AC (Elliott) n. 1284 sRef Gen@11 @1 S0′ 1284. Verse 1 And the whole earth was of one lip, and its words were one.

‘The whole earth was of one lip’ means that people everywhere held to the same doctrine in its general aspects, ‘lip’ meaning doctrine, ‘the earth’ the Church. ‘And its words were one’ means that they held to the same doctrine in its particular details.

AC (Elliott) n. 1285 sRef Gen@11 @1 S0′ 1285. That ‘the whole earth was one lip’ means that people everywhere held to the same doctrine in its general aspects is clear from the meaning in the Word of ‘a lip’, dealt with in the next paragraph. This verse, in these few words, describes the state of the Ancient Church as it had been, that is to say, it held to the same general doctrine. The next verse however describes how it began to be falsified and adulterated, and after that down to verse 9 how it became so utterly perverted that no internal worship existed any longer. Immediately after that the subject is the second Ancient Church begun by Eber, and at last the third Church which was the start of the Jewish Church. For after the Flood there were three consecutive Churches.

[2] In regard to what has been said of the first Ancient Church – that though so wide-spread throughout the world, its lip was nevertheless one and its words one, that is, it shared one doctrine in its general aspects and in its particular details; but for all that, the forms of worship, internal as well as external, were everywhere divergent, as shown in the previous chapter where each nation that is mentioned meant a divergent form of doctrine and of ritual – the situation is as follows: Heaven consists of countless communities. They all vary, and yet all are one, for all are led as one by the Lord; see what has appeared already in 457, 551, 684, 685, 690. A parallel exists in man, in that although internally his body has so many parts, which, like his other organs and limbs, have so many inner parts, each functioning differently from any other, yet all of them, every single one, are nevertheless controlled as one by one soul. A parallel also exists with the human body, which has different ways of exerting its strength and of moving. Nevertheless all are controlled by one motion of the heart and one of the lungs, and together make one. The reason they are able to function as one in this way is that in heaven there is one single influx which is received by everyone according to his own disposition. This influx is an influx of affections from the Lord, from His mercy and life. And although there is one influx only, everything nevertheless conforms and follows as one. And this comes about through the mutual love shared by those in heaven.

[3] Such was the situation with the first Ancient Church that although there were so many forms of internal and external worship, at the general level as many as there were nations, at the specific level as many as there were families making up nations, and at the particular level as many as there were people in the Church, they all nevertheless had ‘one lip’ and ‘their words were one’; that is, they all shared one doctrine in general and in particular. Doctrine is one when all possess mutual love, or charity. Mutual love or charity causes things, though varied, to be one, for it makes one out of varied things. If all, no matter how many – even ten thousand times ten thousand – are governed by charity or mutual love, they have but one end in view, namely the common good, the Lord’s kingdom, and the Lord Himself. Variations in matters of doctrine and in forms of worship are like the variations that exist with the physical senses and with the inner parts of man’s body, which, as stated, all contribute to the perfection of the whole. Indeed the Lord flows in and works by way of charity though in different ways according to the disposition of each individual. And in so doing He arranges every single person into a proper order, on earth as in heaven. In this way the Lord’s will is done, as He Himself teaches, ‘on earth as it is in heaven’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1286 sRef Gen@11 @1 S0′ sRef Isa@6 @6 S1′ sRef Isa@6 @7 S1′ sRef Isa@6 @3 S1′ sRef Isa@6 @5 S1′ 1286. That ‘lip’ means doctrine is clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

The seraphim kept calling out, Holy, Holy, Holy is Jehovah Zebaoth. The prophet said, Woe is me! I am cut off; for* I am a man with unclean lips, and am dwelling in the midst of a people with unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah Zebaoth. Then flew one of the seraphim to me He touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched upon your lips, and your iniquity goes away, and your sin is atoned for. Isa. 6:3, 5-7.

‘Lips’ stands for man’s interior things, and so for internal worship from which adoration springs. This is what the prophet’s experience represented. Anyone may see that his lips being touched in this way, his iniquity going away, and his sin being atoned for, was a representation of interior things meant by ‘the lips’, which are those of charity and its doctrine.

sRef Isa@11 @4 S2′ sRef Isa@57 @19 S2′ [2] In the same prophet,

Jehovah will smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath** of His lips will He slay the wicked. Isa. 11:4.

The internal sense of this does not mean that Jehovah smites with the rod of His mouth and slays the wicked with the breath** of His lips, but that the wicked does so to himself. ‘The breath of His lips’ is doctrine, which with a wicked person is false. In the same prophet,

I create the fruit of the lips – peace, peace to the far and to the near, and I will heal him. Isa. 57:19.

‘Fruit of the lips’ stands for doctrine.

sRef Ezek@3 @6 S3′ sRef Ezek@3 @7 S3′ sRef Ezek@3 @5 S3′ sRef Ezek@3 @4 S3′ [3] In Ezekiel,

Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. You have not been sent to people of foreign speech and a hard language*** but to the house of Israel, not to many peoples of foreign speech and a hard language*** whose words you do not hear. Surely if I sent you to such they would listen to you? And the house of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to Me; for the whole house of Israel are hardened in the forehead and hard in heart. Ezek. 3:4-7.

‘Foreign speech’**** refers to gentiles who, though subject to falsity taught by doctrine, nevertheless possess charity. These people are spoken of therefore as ‘listening’, whereas those who do not possess charity are called ‘hardened in the forehead and hard in heart’.

sRef Mal@2 @7 S4′ sRef Isa@19 @18 S4′ sRef Ps@12 @4 S4′ sRef Ps@63 @5 S4′ sRef Zeph@3 @9 S4′ sRef Mal@2 @6 S4′ [4] In Zephaniah,

I will turn to the people with a clear lip that all of them may call on the name of Jehovah to serve Him with one shoulder. Zeph. 3:9.

‘Clear lip’ plainly stands for doctrine. In Malachi,

The law of truth was in His mouth, and perversity was not found on His lips. For the lips of the priest will keep knowledge, and they will seek the law from his mouth, for he is the angel***** of Jehovah Zebaoth. Mal. 2:6, 7.

This refers to Levi who represents the Lord. ‘Lips’ stands for doctrine deriving from charity.

In David, Those who say With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us. Ps 12:4.

‘Lips’ stands for falsities. In the same author,

My soul will be satisfied with fat and fatness, and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.****** Ps. 63:5.

In Isaiah,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak with the lip of Canaan, and swear  to Jehovah Zebaoth. Isa. 19:18.

‘Lip’ stands for doctrine.
* The Latin (qui) means who, but it is clear from the Hebrew that for or because (quia) is intended.
** or the spirit
*** lit.. deep in lip, and heavy in tongue
**** lit. Deep in lip
***** or the messenger
****** lit. lips of songs

AC (Elliott) n. 1287 sRef Gen@11 @1 S0′ 1287. That ‘the earth’ means the Church has been shown already in 662, 1066.

AC (Elliott) n. 1288 sRef Gen@11 @1 S0′ 1288. That ‘words were one’ means that they held to the same doctrine in its particular details is clear from what has been stated already, for ‘lip’ means doctrine in general, as has been shown, while ‘words’ means doctrine in detail, that is, particular details of doctrine. These, as has been stated make no difference provided they have the same end in view, which is to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. When they do so they are the details that contribute to the general whole.

sRef Ps@119 @9 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @12 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @10 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @11 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @8 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @17 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @16 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @6 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @7 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @15 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @14 S2′ sRef Ps@119 @13 S2′ [2] That ‘the Word’ means all doctrine concerning charity and faith derived from it and that ‘words’ means the details that constitute doctrine is clear in David,

I will confess You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgements I will keep Your statutes. How will a young man make pure his path? By observing Your Word. With my whole heart I have sought You; cause me not to wander from Your commandments I have laid up Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O Jehovah; teach me Your statutes! With my lips I have declared all the judgements of Your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies. I meditate on Your commands and look to Your ways. I delight in Your statutes, I do not forget Your Word. Ps. 119:7-16.

‘The Word’ stands for doctrine in general. The fact that here commandments, judgements, testimonies, commands, statutes, way, and lips, are distinguished shows plainly that they are all features of the Word, that is, of doctrine. The same applies wherever else in the Word these terms are used with different meanings.

sRef Ps@45 @1 S3′ [3] In the same author,

A love song. My heart is pondering* a goodly theme.** My tongue is the pen of a ready scribe You are the fairest of the sons of man. Grace has poured out from your lips. Ride on the word of truth, and of the meekness of righteousness Your right hand will teach you marvellous things. Ps. 45:1-2, 4.

‘Riding on the word of truth, and of the meekness of righteousness’ is teaching the doctrine of truth and good. Here, as elsewhere in the Word, word, mouth, lip, and tongue mean differing things. The fact that they all have to do with doctrine concerning charity is clear because it is called ‘a love song’, and it is to this doctrine that ‘the fairest of the sons of man’, ‘grace on the lips’, and ‘a right hand that teaches marvellous things’ have reference.

sRef Isa@9 @8 S4′ sRef Matt@24 @35 S4′ sRef Matt@13 @19 S4′ sRef Matt@4 @4 S4′ [4] In Isaiah,

The Lord*** has sent a word into Jacob, and it has fallen on Israel. Isa. 9:8.

‘A word’ stands for the doctrine of internal and external worship. Here ‘Jacob’ stands for external worship, ‘Israel’ for internal. In Matthew,

Jesus said, Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that goes out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4:4.

In the same gospel,

When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not give heed to it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. Matt. 13:19

‘The word’ is again referred to in verses 20-23 of that chapter. In the same gospel,

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Matt. 24:35.

Here ‘word’ stands for the Lord’s doctrine and ‘words’ for the things that constitute His doctrine.

sRef Deut@4 @13 S5′ sRef Deut@4 @9 S5′ aRef Ex@34 @28 S5′ [5] Since the term ‘words’ stands for everything that constitutes doctrine the Ten Commandments are therefore called ‘words’ in Moses,

Jehovah. wrote on the tables the words of the covenant, the ten words. Exod. 34:28.

In the same author,

He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the ten words, and He wrote them on two tables of stone. Deut. 4:13; 10:4.

In the same author,
Take heed, and guard your soul diligently, lest perhaps you forget the things**** which your eyes have seen. Deut. 4:9.

And there are further examples besides these.
* The first Latin edition reads voluit (has willed) but comparison with the original Hebrew shows that volvit (is turning over or is pondering) is intended.
** lit. a good word
***The Latin has Jehovah but the Hebrew has the name meaning Lord, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.
**** lit. the words

AC (Elliott) n. 1289 sRef Gen@11 @2 S0′ 1289. Verse 2 And so it was that, when they travelled away from the east they found a valley in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. ‘When they travelled away from the east’ means when they departed from charity, ‘the east’ being charity from the Lord. ‘They found a valley in the land of Shinar’ means that worship became more unclean and unholy. ‘And they dwelt there’ means the life [that resulted].

AC (Elliott) n. 1290 sRef Gen@11 @2 S0′ 1290. That ‘when they travelled away from the east’ means when they, departed from charity is clear from the meaning of ‘travelling away’ and from the meaning of ‘the east’ in the Word. That ‘travelling away here means departing is clear from its referring to charity, which is ‘the east from which they travelled’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1291 sRef Gen@11 @2 S0′ 1291. That ‘the east’ is charity from the Lord is clear from what has been shown already in 101 and 1250.

AC (Elliott) n. 1292 sRef Gen@11 @2 S0′ 1292. That ‘they found a valley in the land of Shinar’ means that worship became more unclean and unholy is clear from the meaning of ‘a valley’ and from the meaning of ‘the land of Shinar’. As regards the meaning of ‘a valley’, in the Word ‘mountains’ means love or charity because these are the highest points, or what amounts to the same, inmost features of worship, as shown already in 795. Consequently ‘a valley’ means that which is below the mountains, that is, the lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior aspect of worship. ‘The land of Shinar’ however means external worship which has unholiness within it, as shown already in 1183. Thus in this verse the statement that ‘they found a valley in the land of Shinar’ means that worship became more unclean and unholy.

[2] Verse one dealt with the Church having one lip and its words being one that is, one doctrine in general and in particular. This verse however deals with the decline of the Church – ‘they travelled from the east’ that is, they began to depart from charity. For to the extent that the Church, or a member of the Church, departs from charity, its worship departs from what is holy, or its worship approaches what is unclean and unholy. The reason ‘they found a valley in the land of Shinar’ means the decline of the Church, that is, of worship, into unholiness is that a valley is a low-lying area between mountains, which, as has been stated, mean the holy things of love or of charity within worship. This also becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a valley’ in the Word where in the original language several expressions for valley occur which mean, when used in that sense, things present in worship that are less or more unholy.

sRef Jer@7 @32 S3′ sRef Jer@2 @23 S3′ sRef Jer@7 @31 S3′ [3] That ‘valleys’ means such things is clear in Isaiah,

The burden of the valley of vision; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has a day of tumult and of trampling and of confusion in the valley of vision. Isa. 22:1, 5.

‘The valley of vision’ stands for delusions and for reasonings by which worship is rendered false and at length profaned. In Jeremiah,

How do you say, I have not been defiled, I have not walked after the baals? Look at your way in the valley. Jer. 2:23.

‘The valley’ stands for unclean worship. In the same prophet, They have built the high places of Topheth, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Therefore, behold, the days are coming when it will no more be called Topheth or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter. Jer. 7:31, 34, 19:6.

‘The valley of Hinnom’ stands for hell, also for the profanation of truth and good.

sRef Ezek@39 @15 S4′ sRef Ezek@39 @11 S4′ sRef Ezek@6 @3 S4′ sRef Isa@41 @18 S4′ [4] In Ezekiel,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys Behold, I, even I, am bringing a sword places. Ezek. 6:3.

In the same prophet,

I will give to Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of those that pass over towards the east of the sea. And they will call it the valley of the multitude of Gog. Ezek. 39:11, 15.

This refers to worship in external things, ‘the valley’ standing for such worship. But when worship has not yet become unholy to that extent, it is described by the word for a valley used here in Gen. 11:2, as in Isaiah,

I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isa. 41:18.

This refers to people who are in ignorance, that is, without cognitions of faith and charity, and who yet have charity. ‘valley’ here stands for those people, as does ‘valley’ in Ezek. 37:1.

AC (Elliott) n. 1293 sRef Gen@11 @2 S0′ 1293. ‘And they dwelt there’ means the life that resulted. This becomes clear from the meaning in the Word of ‘dwelling’ as living. The expression to dwell occurs many times in both the prophetical and the historical sections of the Word, and in the internal sense it as a rule means to live. The reason is that the most ancient people dwelt in tents and celebrated their most holy worship in them, and this also is why ‘tents’ in the Word means the holiness of worship, as shown in 414. And since ‘tents’ meant the holiness within worship, ‘dwelling’ in a good sense also means living, or life. In a similar way it is because the most ancient people travelled around with their tents that ‘travelling’ in the internal sense of the Word means the established patterns and order of life.

AC (Elliott) n. 1294 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ 1294. Verse 3 And they said, one man to the next, Come, let us make bricks, and let us burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had bitumen for clay.

‘And one man said to the next’ means that this was started ‘Come, let us make bricks’ means the falsities which they fashioned for themselves. ‘And let us burn them thoroughly’ means the evils that stem from self-love. ‘And they had brick for stone’ means that they had falsity in place of truth. ‘And they had bitumen for clay’ means that they had evil springing from evil desire in place of good.

AC (Elliott) n. 1295 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ 1295. That ‘one man said to the next’ means that this was started, that is, men started it, follows from the train of thought. This verse is dealing with the third state of the Church when falsities began to reign, in particular the falsities that arise from evil desires. There are two sources of falsities, the first being ignorance of the truth, the second evil desires. Falsity that arises from ignorance of the truth is not so harmful as falsity arising from evil desires, for the falsity of ignorance is the outcome either of having been so taught since early childhood, or of having been so preoccupied with various pursuits that one has never looked into whether something is true, or of not having been competent enough to judge what is true and what is false. Falsities that are the product of such ignorance do little harm provided that the person has not confirmed himself much in them, and so has not, on the instigation of some evil desire or other, persuaded himself to the point of defending those falsities. If he has he so intensifies the cloud of ignorance and converts it into darkness that he is incapable of seeing the truth.

[2] But falsity from evil desires comes into being when the origin of falsity is evil desire, that is, self- love and love of the world, as when somebody takes some point of doctrine, preaches it to captivate and take control of people’s minds, and explains or twists that point of doctrine to his own advantage, and confirms it both by reasonings based on facts, and from the literal sense of the Word. The worship that results from this is unholy, however holy it may appear outwardly. For inwardly it is not worship of the Lord but worship of self. Nor does such a person acknowledge any truth, except insofar as he can explain it to his own advantage. Such worship is what is meant by ‘Babel’. But the situation is different with people who, though born and brought up in such worship, do not know that it is falsity, and lead charitable lives. Their ignorance has innocence within it, and their worship has the good flowing from charity within it. The unholiness of worship is attributable not so much to the actual worship as to the nature of the worshipper.

AC (Elliott) n. 1296 sRef Isa@9 @9 S0′ sRef Isa@65 @3 S0′ sRef Nahum@3 @14 S0′ sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ sRef Isa@65 @2 S0′ sRef Isa@9 @10 S0′ sRef Nahum@3 @15 S0′ sRef Ezek@4 @1 S0′ 1296. That ‘come, let us make bricks’ means the falsities which they fashioned for themselves is clear from the meaning of ‘brick’. ‘Stone’ in the Word means truth, and therefore ‘brick’, being man-made, means falsity, for brick is artificial stone. That ‘brick’ has this meaning becomes clear also from the following places: In Isaiah,

I have spread out My hands all the day to a rebellious people. walking in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, sacrificing in gardens and burning incense upon bricks. Isa. 65:2, 3.

‘Burning incense upon bricks’ stands for worship based on fabrications and falsities; and this is why these people are referred to as ‘walking after their own thoughts’. In the same prophet,

On account of the pace and arrogance of heart of Ephraim, and of the inhabitants of Samaria, saying, The bricks have fallen but we will build from hewn stone. Isa. 9:9, 10.

‘Ephraim’ stands for one who, having become intelligent, has then lapsed into wrong, who calls or makes falsities, or ‘bricks’, his truths. ‘Hewn stone’ stands for what is a fabrication. In Nahum,

Draw yourself water for the siege, strengthen your fortifications; go into the mud and tread the clay; renew the brick-kiln. There the fire will devour you. and the sword cut you off. Nahum 3:14, 15.

Here ‘treading the clay’ stands for falsities, ‘renewing the brick-kiln’ for worship based on them. ‘Fire’ is the punishment of evil desires, ‘sword’ the punishment of falsities. In Ezekiel,

Take a brick and lay it before you, and on it carve the city of Jerusalem. Ezek. 4:1.

This text contains the command to besiege it, a prophecy implying that worship was falsified. The fact that ‘brick’ means falsity becomes clearer still from the meaning of ‘stone’ as truth, to be dealt with in what follows shortly.

AC (Elliott) n. 1297 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ sRef Isa@33 @11 S0′ sRef Isa@33 @12 S0′ sRef Isa@64 @11 S0′ 1297. ‘And let us burn them thoroughly’ means the evils that stem from self-love. This is clear from the meaning of ‘to burn, a burning, fire, sulphur, and bitumen’ in the Word, where they have reference to evil desires, chiefly to those that belong to self-love, as in Isaiah,

Our holy house, and our splendour, where our fathers praised You, has been made into a blaze of fire, and all our pleasant places have been made into a waste. Isa. 64:11.

In the same prophet,

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble. Your wind is a fire that will consume you. Thus the peoples will be burnings of lime; [like] thorns cut down they will be burned in the fire. Isa. 33:11, 12.

And there are many other examples besides these. ‘Burning’ and ‘fire’ have reference to evil desires because they possess similar characteristics.

AC (Elliott) n. 1298 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ 1298. ‘They had brick for stone’ means that they had falsity in place of truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘brick’ as falsity, dealt with just above, and also from the meaning of ‘stone’ in the broad sense as truth, dealt with already in 643. The reason ‘stones’ meant truth was that the most ancient people used to mark out boundaries by means of stones and raise up stones to testify that something was so, that is, was the truth. This is clear from the stone which Jacob set up as a pillar, Gen. 28:22; 35:14; from the pillar of stones placed between Laban and Jacob, Gen. 31:46, 47, 52; and from the altar which the children of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh erected beside the Jordan as an altar of witness, Josh. 22:10, 28, 34. Consequently ‘stones’ in the Word means truths, so much so that not only the stones of the altar but also the precious stones in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron’s ephod and in the breastplate of judgement meant the holy truths of love.

[2] Regarding the altar, when sacrificial worship on altars was introduced, an altar in that case meant representative worship of the Lord in general. ‘The stones’ themselves however meant the holy truths belonging to that worship. This was why it was commanded that the altar had to be built of whole and not of hewn stones, and why it was forbidden to use any iron tool on them, Deut. 27:5-7; Josh. 8:31. The reason was that hewn stones, and those on which an iron tool had been used, meant artificialities and thus fabrications in worship. That is to say, they meant things that derive from the proprium, or from the inventions of man’s own thought and heart, which was to profane worship, as is clearly stated in Exod 20:25. For the same reason no tool of iron was used on the stones of the Temple, 1 Kings 6:7.

sRef Rev@21 @20 S3′ sRef Rev@21 @19 S3′ sRef Isa@54 @13 S3′ sRef Isa@54 @12 S3′ sRef Isa@54 @11 S3′ [3] That the precious stones set in the shoulder-pieces of Aaron’s ephod and in the breastplate of judgement in a similar way meant holy truths has been shown already in 114. This is clear also in Isaiah,

Behold, I will set your stones in carbuncle and lay your foundations in sapphires; and I will make your suns (windows) of ruby, and your gates into precious stones, and all your border into pleasant stones And all your sons will be taught by Jehovah, and great will be the peace of your sons. Isa. 54:11-13

The stones mentioned here stand for holy truths, and this is why it is said that ‘all your sons will be taught by Jehovah’. It is also the reason why it is said in John that the foundations of the wall of the city, holy Jerusalem, were adorned with every kind of precious stone, which are each mentioned by name, Rev. 21:19, 20. ‘The holy Jerusalem’ stands for the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth, the foundations of which kingdom are holy truths. Holy truths were similarly meant by the tables of stone on which the commandments of the Law, or Ten Commandments, were written. This was why they were made of stone or had a stone base, concerning which see Exod. 24:12; 31:18; 34:1; Deut. 5:22; 10:1; for the commandments themselves are nothing else than truths of faith.

sRef Gen@49 @24 S4′ sRef Ps@118 @22 S4′ sRef Isa@28 @16 S4′ [4] Now because stones in ancient times meant truths, and because later on when worship on pillars, on altars, and in the Temple began, pillars, altars, and the Temple meant holy truths, the Lord also is therefore called ‘a Stone’: In Moses,

The Mighty One of Jacob – from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel. Gen. 49:24.

In Isaiah,

The Lord Jehovih said, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tested Corner-Stone, precious, of sure foundation. Isa. 28:16.

In David,

The Stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner Ps. 118:22.

The same is meant in Daniel 2:34, 35, 45, by the stone cut out of the rock which smashed Nebuchadnezzar’s statue to pieces.

sRef Jer@51 @25 S5′ sRef Isa@27 @9 S5′ sRef Isa@62 @10 S5′ sRef Jer@51 @26 S5′ [5] That ‘stones’ means truths is clear in Isaiah,

By this the iniquity of Jacob will be expiated, and this will be the full fruit to remove his sin, when He makes all the stones of the altar like chalk-stones scattered about. Isa. 27:9.

‘The stones of the altar’ stands for truths in worship that have been dissipated. In the same prophet,

Make level the way of the people; level out, level out the highway; gather out the stones. Isa. 62:10.

‘The way’ and ‘the stones’ stand for truths. In Jeremiah,

I am against you, O destroying mountain. I will roll you down from the rocks and I will make you into a mountain of burning. And they will not take from you a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations. Jer. 51:25, 26.

This refers to Babel. ‘A mountain of burning’ is self-love. ‘Taking no stone from it’ means that there is no truth from this source.

AC (Elliott) n. 1299 sRef Isa@34 @8 S0′ sRef Isa@34 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ 1299. ‘They had bitumen for clay’ means that they had evil springing from evil desire in place of good. This is clear from the meaning in the Word of ‘bitumen’ and of ‘clay’. Since the subject here is the building of the tower of Babel, the materials mentioned are such as are used in building. Bitumen is mentioned because of its sulphurous and combustible qualities, which in the Word mean evil desires, chiefly those that belong to self-love. Here ‘bitumen’ means the evils springing from evil desires, as well as the resulting falsities, as these too are the evils from which the tower described below was constructed. That such things are meant is clear in Isaiah,

The day of Jehovah’s vengeance – her streams will be turned into pitch, and her dust into sulphur; and her land will become burning pitch. Isa. 34:8, 9.

‘Pitch’ and ‘sulphur’ stand for falsities and evils that spring from evil desires. And there are further examples besides these.

AC (Elliott) n. 1300 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ sRef Jer@18 @6 S0′ sRef Isa@64 @8 S0′ 1300. ‘Clay’ means the good from which the mind or the member of the Church is formed. This too is clear from the Word, as in Isaiah,

But now, O Jehovah, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter; and we are all the work of Your hands. Isa. 64:8, 9.

‘Clay’ stands for the member himself of the Church who is being formed, and so stands for good stemming from charity by means of which the formation, that is, the reformation and regeneration, of every man is achieved In Jeremiah,

Like the clay in the hand of the potter so are you in My hand,* O house of Israel. Jer. 18:6.

Here too ‘clay’ has a similar meaning. Whether reference is made to building with clay or to forming from it, it amounts to the same.
* The Latin means so are we in Your hand, but the Hebrew means so are you in My hand, which Sw. has in another place where he quotes this verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1301 sRef Gen@11 @3 S0′ 1301. The fact that these things are meant may now become clear to anyone both from the meaning of everything which this verse contains and also from the fact that the kinds of stones and the kind of clay they had are mentioned. These points would not have been worth mentioning in the Word of the Lord if they had not embodied those arcana.

AC (Elliott) n. 1302 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1302. Verse 4 And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, and its head in heaven; and let us make a name for ourselves, lest perhaps we are scattered over the face* of the whole earth.

‘And they said’ means that this was done. ‘Let us build ourselves a city and a tower’ means that they fabricated a form of doctrine and of worship – ‘a city’ is doctrine, ‘a tower’ worship of self. ‘And its head in heaven’ means to the extent of their ruling over things in heaven. ‘And let us make a name for ourselves’ means that as a result they might gain a reputation for power. ‘Lest perhaps we are scattered over the face* of the whole earth’ means that otherwise they would not receive recognition.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1303 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1303. That ‘they said’ means that this was done follows from the train of thought, just as the previous statement that ‘they said, one man to the next’ meant that it was started. Indeed this verse, by the tower, describes what Babel was like.

AC (Elliott) n. 1304 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1304. That ‘let us build ourselves a city and a tower’ means that they fabricated a form of doctrine and of worship becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a city’ and from the meaning of ‘a tower’, dealt with in the paragraphs that follow this. The Church is such that when charity towards the neighbour departs and self-love takes its place, the doctrine of faith is of no account at all except insofar as it can be converted into worship of self. Nor do people consider that worship contains anything holy unless it exists for the sake of self, thus unless it is worship of self. This applies to all self-love. In fact a person who loves himself more than others not only hates everybody who is not subservient to him and shows no favour to them except when they have become subservient, but also, to the extent that he is not prevented, he plunges even into exalting himself above God. The fact that self-love is such when given free rein I have been shown in actual occurrences. These are the things meant by ‘a city and a tower’. Self-love, and every desire springing from it, is of all things the filthiest and most unholy, and is very hell itself. From this anyone may deduce the nature of the worship that has such as this within it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1305 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1305. That ‘a city’ means doctrine, or what is doctrinal, whether genuine or heretical, has been shown already in 402.

AC (Elliott) n. 1306 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ sRef Isa@2 @11 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @15 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @16 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @14 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @18 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @17 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @12 S1′ sRef Isa@2 @13 S1′ 1306. That ‘a tower’ means worship of self is clear from the meaning of ‘a tower’. It is worship of self when a person sets himself up above everybody else even to the point of his being worshipped. Consequently self-love, which is pride and arrogance, is called height, loftiness, and exaltedness, and everything high is used to describe it, as in Isaiah,

The eyes of man’s (homo) loftiness will be humbled, and the height of men (vir) brought low, and Jehovah alone will be exalted on that day, for the day of Jehovah Zebaoth will be against everyone that is lofty and high, and against everyone that is lifted up. and he will be humbled, and against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up and against all the oaks of Bashan, and against all high mountains, and against all hills that are lifted up, and against every lofty tower and against every fortified wall. Isa. 2:11-18.

This refers to self-love, described by the cedars, oaks, mountains, hills, and tower that are high and exalted.

sRef Isa@23 @13 S2′ sRef Isa@30 @25 S2′ sRef Ezek@26 @3 S2′ sRef Ezek@26 @4 S2′ [2] In the same prophet,

There will be brooks, streams of water, on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. Isa. 30:25.

Here likewise ‘tower’ stands for self-love and for exaltedness in worship. In the same prophet,

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans! This people was not. Asshur founded her in tziim.* They will erect their watch-towers; they will raise up her palaces, he will make her into a ruin. Isa. 23:13.

This refers to Tyre and laying it waste. ‘Watch-towers’, a different expression from ‘towers’, stands for resulting delusions. In Ezekiel,

I will cause many nations to come up against Tyre, and they will break down the walls of Tyre, and destroy her towers, and I will scrape her dust from her and make her a bare rock. Ezek. 26:3, 4.

Here likewise ‘towers’ has the same meaning.

[3] The reason why self-love in worship, or worship of self, is called ‘a tower’ is that ‘a city’ means doctrine, as shown already in 402, and cities in former times were fortified by towers with watchmen in them. Towers were also placed on their borders, and they were therefore called towers for watchmen, 2 Kings 9:17; 17:9; 18:8, and watchtowers, Isa. 23:13. In addition, when the Lord’s Church is compared to a vineyard, things of worship and also the preservation of it are compared to a winepress and to ‘a tower in the vineyard’, as is clear in Isa. 5:1, 2; Matt. 21:33; Mark 12:1.
* A Hebrew word, probably meaning desert creatures

AC (Elliott) n. 1307 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1307. ‘And its head in heaven’ means to the extent of their ruling over things in heaven. This follows from what is said above, for ‘haying one’s head in heaven’ is being exalted even as far as that, as is also clear from the description of Babel in other parts of the Word and from what has been stated already in 257 about ‘lifting up the head’. Self-love is the love which agrees least of all with heavenly life. Indeed it is the source of every form of evil, not only of hatred but also of revenge, cruelty, and adultery. It agrees still less when it enters into worship and profanes it. The hells therefore consist of such persons who, the more they wish to rear their heads up into heaven, the more deeply they force themselves down into hell and the harsher the punishments they plunge themselves into.

AC (Elliott) n. 1308 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1308. ‘And let us make a name for ourselves’ means that as a result they might gain a reputation for power. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘making a name for oneself’ Indeed they know that everybody wishes to engage in worship of some kind, for that wish is common, existing even with every gentile. When anyone considers the universe’ even more someone who considers the order of it, he acknowledges some supreme Being. And because he seeks his own welfare he offers that supreme Being his adoration. Furthermore there is something within which dictates this, for such an idea flows in from the Lord through the angels present with every individual. Anyone with whom this is not the case is under the control of spirits from hell, and does not acknowledge God. Because those who build towers of Babel know this they use matters of doctrine and holy things to make a name for themselves. Without that they could not be worshipped, which is the meaning of the statement coming next about their otherwise being scattered over the face* of the whole earth, that is, receiving no recognition. From this it also follows that the higher such people are able to rear their heads up into heaven, the more they make a name for themselves. Their dominion is greatest with people who have some conscience, for these they lead wherever they like. But those who have no conscience they govern by various external bonds.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1309 sRef Gen@11 @4 S0′ 1309. ‘Lest perhaps we are scattered over the face* of the whole earth’ means that otherwise they would not receive recognition. This follows from what is said above, for ‘being scattered over the face* of the whole earth’ is disappearing from their sight, and so not being accepted and acknowledged.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1310 sRef Gen@11 @5 S0′ 1310. Verse 5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man were building.

‘Jehovah came down’ means judgement on them ‘To see the city and the tower’ means on account of the fact that they had perverted doctrine and profaned worship. ‘Which the sons of man were building’ means which they fabricated for themselves.

AC (Elliott) n. 1311 sRef Gen@11 @5 S0′ 1311. That ‘Jehovah came down’ means judgement on them is clear from the meaning of the previous verses, and of those that follow, and also from the meaning of ‘coming down’ when used of Jehovah. Previous verses dealt with building a city and the tower of Babel, those that follow deal with the confounding of lips and with dispersion, while ‘coming down’ when used of Jehovah has reference to the time when judgement takes place. Jehovah or the Lord is present everywhere and knows everything from eternity. Consequently it cannot be said of Him that ‘He comes down to see’ except in the literal sense where things are stated as they appear to man to be. But this is not the case in the internal sense. In that sense a matter is presented not according to appearances but as it is in itself. Consequently ‘coming down to see’ in this verse means judgement.

[2] Judgment is used of the time when evil has reached its furthest limit, which in the Word is called coming to a close or the time when iniquity has come to a close. For the fact of the matter is that every evil has its limits to which it is allowed to extend. When it is carried beyond those limits it incurs the punishment of evil. This applies both in particular and in general. The punishment of evil is what is then termed judgement. And since it seems at first as though the Lord does not see or notice the existence of evil – for when someone commits evil without getting punished he imagines that the Lord does not care, but when he does suffer punishment he supposes that this is when the Lord sees for the first time, and indeed that it is the Lord who is punishing him – these are the appearances which lead to the use of the expression ‘Jehovah came down to see’.

sRef Isa@31 @4 S3′ sRef Micah@1 @4 S3′ sRef Micah@1 @3 S3′ sRef Ps@144 @5 S3′ sRef Isa@64 @3 S3′ sRef Ps@144 @6 S3′ [3] ‘Coming down’ is used of Jehovah because ‘the most high’, or His being ‘in the highest’, are phrases used of Him This too is phraseology based on appearances, for He dwells not in the highest but in inmost places, and therefore in the Word most high and inmost are identical in meaning. Judgement itself, or the punishment of evil, takes place at a lower or the lowest level. This is why He is spoken of as ‘coming down’, as He also is in David,

O Jehovah, bow Your heavens and come down.* Touch the mountains and they will smoke; send out lightning and scatter them. Ps. 144:5, 6.

This too stands for the punishment of evil, which is judgement. In Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Isa. 31:4.

In the same prophet, You will come down, the mountains will dissolve at Your presence. Isa. 64:3.

Here likewise ‘coming down’ stands for the punishment of evil, that is, for judgement. In Micah,

Jehovah came forth out of His place, and He came down and trod upon the lofty places of the earth; and the mountains melted beneath Him. Micah 1:3, 4.
* The first Latin edition adds three words which mean and I will speak with You, but no phrase such as this occurs at this point in the Psalm quoted.

AC (Elliott) n. 1312 sRef Gen@11 @5 S0′ 1312. ‘To see the city and the tower’ means on account of the fact that they had perverted doctrine and profaned worship. This is clear from the meaning of ‘city and tower’, dealt with already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1313 sRef Gen@11 @5 S0′ 1313. ‘Which the sons of man were building’ means which they fabricated for themselves. This is clear without explanation. ‘Sons of man’ here are members of the Church, for people who do not belong to the Church and do not possess cognitions of faith are incapable of fabricating such things. The fact that such people are incapable of profaning holy things has been shown already in 301-303, 593.

AC (Elliott) n. 1314 sRef Gen@11 @6 S0′ 1314. Verse 6 And Jehovah said, See, they are one people, and they all have one lip, and this they have started to do; and now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing.

‘Jehovah said’ means that it was so. ‘See, they are one people, and they all have one lip’ means that all had the truth of faith and held to the same doctrine. ‘And this they have started to do’ means that they are now starting to become different. ‘And now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing’ means unless their state is now altered.

AC (Elliott) n. 1315 sRef Gen@11 @6 S0′ 1315. That ‘Jehovah said’ means that it was so is clear from the fact that this section, as shown already, is not true history but made-up history. Consequently the statement ‘Jehovah said’ can have no other meaning, as has also been shown many times already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1316 sRef Gen@11 @6 S0′ 1316. ‘See, they are one people, and they all have one lip’ means that all had the truth of faith and held to the same doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of ‘people’ as the truth of faith, and from the meaning of ‘lip’ as doctrine. That ‘people’ means the truth of faith, that is, those who possess the truth of faith, has been shown already in 1259, and that ‘lip’ means the doctrine of faith has been shown above at verse 1. The people are called ‘one’ and their ‘lip’ one when all have as their end in view the common good of society, the common good of the Church, and the Lord’s kingdom. For in that case the end includes within itself the Lord, from whom all people are one. The Lord cannot possibly be present with someone whose end in view is his own good. That which is man’s own excludes the Lord; for in so doing it diverts and directs towards itself the common good of society, that of the Church, and indeed the Lord’s kingdom, even to making these exist so to speak for its own sake. Thus it takes away from the Lord that which is His and substitutes itself. And when this is the prevailing attitude with a person the same is the case in each one of his thoughts, and indeed in the smallest details of his thoughts. This is the nature of a person’s prevailing attitude.

[2] This is not so apparent during a person’s lifetime as it is in the next life. His prevailing attitude reveals itself as a certain sphere which is felt by everyone around him, and it is the fact that it emanates from every single thing within him that makes that sphere such as it is. The sphere of someone who in every respect regards himself takes to itself – or as is said in the next life, absorbs – everything which gratifies it, thus takes to itself all the delight of the spirits surrounding him. It also destroys all the freedom they have It is inevitable therefore that such a person should be banished from their company. When however ‘the people are one and the lip one’, that is, when they have in view the common good of all, one person never takes to himself the joy of another or destroys the freedom of another, but as far as he can he furthers and increases it. This is why heavenly communities are as one, a oneness that is achieved solely by means of mutual love from the Lord. And the same applies to the Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1317 sRef Gen@11 @6 S0′ 1317. That ‘this they have started to do’ means that they are now starting to become different becomes clear from the train of thought. ‘Having started to do’ here means their thought or intention, and therefore their end in view, as is clear also from the statement that comes next -‘and now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing’. The reason why in the internal sense end in view is meant is that the Lord regards nothing else in man but the end he has in view. Whatever his thoughts and deeds may be, varying in countless ways, they are all good provided the end in view is good. But if the end is bad everything is bad. The end in view controls every single thing a person thinks or does. The angels present with man, being the Lord’s, control nothing of the man except his ends. In controlling these they also control his thoughts and deeds, since all of these are determined by the end. A person’s end in view is his very life. Everything he thinks and does receives its life from the end, for, as has been stated, it is determined by the end. As is a person’s end in view therefore, so is the life within him. His end is nothing else than his love, for nobody can have as his end in view anything other than that which he loves. Even someone who thinks one thing but does another has that which he loves as his end. The presence, or the deceit, holds within itself that end, which is self-love or love of the world, and the resulting delight of his life. From these considerations anyone may deduce that a person’s life is such as his love is. These then are the ideas meant by ‘having started to do’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1318 sRef Gen@11 @6 S0′ 1318. ‘And now they will not be held back from anything which they have thought of doing’ means unless their state is now altered. This becomes clear from what follows. The internal sense of the Word is such that it looks continually to the things that follow, and the conclusion, although this is not so apparent in the literal sense. The kind of people described above are not held back from what they think of doing unless their state is altered The fact that their state was indeed altered is clear from what follows. To think of doing something is nothing else than intention, that is, the end in view. And the end a person has in view cannot possibly be held back, that is, altered unless his state is altered. For, as has been stated, a person’s end in view is his very life. When his state is altered so is the end in view, and along with that end the thought as well. What kind of a change of state took place among the members of this Church will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be stated later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1319 sRef Gen@11 @7 S0′ 1319. Verse 7 Come, let us go down, and let us there confound their lip so that they do not hear each man the lip of his companion.

‘Come, let us go down’ means that judgement took place in this manner. ‘And let us there confound their lip’ means that nobody has the truth of doctrine. ‘So that they do not hear each man the lip of his companion’ means that all are at variance with one another.

AC (Elliott) n. 1320 sRef Gen@11 @7 S0′ 1320. That ‘come, let us go down’ means that judgement took place in this manner is clear from what has been stated above at verse 5 about the meaning of ‘going down’. The reason the plural is used -‘let us go down and let us confound their lips’- is that the execution of judgement is meant, which is carried out by means of spirits, and in fact by evil spirits.

AC (Elliott) n. 1321 sRef Gen@11 @7 S0′ 1321. That ‘let us confound their lip’ means that nobody has the truth of doctrine becomes clear from the meaning of ‘lip’ as doctrine, dealt with above at verse 1. Consequently ‘confounding lips’ is confounding the things that comprise doctrine, that is, the truths of doctrine. In the internal sense ‘confounding’ means not only darkening but also erasing and scattering so that no truth is left. When worship of self supplants worship of the Lord all truth is not only perverted but also done away with, till at length falsity is acknowledged in place of truth and evil in place of good. In fact all the light of truth comes from the Lord, and all thick darkness from man. When man takes the Lord’s place in worship the light of truth turns to thick darkness, and in this case people see the light as thick darkness, and thick darkness as the light.

[2] Such also is the life of those people after death. To them the life of falsity looks like light, while the life of truth looks to them like thick darkness. But when they go near heaven the light of such life turns to total darkness. While they are in the world they are indeed able to utter the truth, and to do so eloquently and with seeming zeal. And because they are all the time thinking of themselves it seems to them as though truth is also in their minds. But because their end in view is worship of themselves, this end conditions their thoughts so that they do not acknowledge truth except insofar as self is present in that truth. Anyone like this, though truth is on his lips, clearly has no truth within him. This is quite evident in the next life, for there such people not only fail to acknowledge the truth which they have professed during their lifetime, but also hate it and persecute it. This they do to the extent that pride or worship of self is not taken away from them.

AC (Elliott) n. 1322 sRef Gen@11 @7 S0′ 1322. ‘So that they do not hear each man the lip of his companion’ means that all were at variance with one another, that is, one man was opposed to the next. This becomes clear from the words themselves. ‘Not hearing a companion’s lip’ is not acknowledging what another says, and in the internal sense not acknowledging what another teaches, which is his doctrine – for ‘lip’ is doctrine, as shown above at verse 1. They do indeed acknowledge it with the lips but not with the heart, and assent with the lips is worthless when there is no assent in the heart. This is similar to the situation that exists with evil spirits in the next life, who are distinguished into separate communities just as good spirits are. But they are joined and held together by their having similar delusions and evil desires, so that they act together in persecuting truths and goods. So they have a common interest to hold them together. But as soon as that common interest ceases to exist one rushes at another, and their joy then consists in torturing one or more of their companions. The same applies in the world where doctrine and worship of this kind exist. People may be quite united in their acceptance of what is a matter of doctrine or religious practice, but the common interest holding them together is worship of self. And their acceptance is proportional to their ability to share in that common interest. But to the extent they cannot share or have any hope of sharing that common purpose they split up, for the reason mentioned just above, that not one of these people possesses any truth but every one has falsity in place of truth, and evil in place of good. This then is what is meant by ‘Bach man not hearing the lip of his companion’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1323 sRef Gen@11 @8 S0′ 1323. Verse 8 And Jehovah scattered them from there over the face* of the whole earth; and they left off building the city.

‘Jehovah scattered them over the face* of the whole earth’ means here, as previously, that they were not acknowledged. ‘And they left off building the city’ means that such doctrine was not received.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1324 sRef Gen@11 @8 S0′ 1324. That ‘Jehovah scattered them over the face* of the whole earth’ means that they were not acknowledged is clear from what has been stated already at verse 4 where the same words occur.
* lit. the faces

[1324a] That ‘they left off building the city’ means that such doctrine was not received is clear from the meaning of ‘a city’ as doctrine, as shown already in 402, and also from what has been stated above at verses 4, 5, about building a city and a tower These considerations show that such doctrine or worship which inwardly contains love of self, that is, worship of self, was not allowed with this Ancient Church, and the reason is given in the very next verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1325 sRef Gen@11 @9 S0′ 1325. Verse 9 Therefore He called the name of it Babel, because there Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth; and from there Jehovah scattered them over the face* of the whole earth.

‘Therefore He called the name of it Babel’ means such worship. ‘Because Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth’ means the state of this Ancient Church – that internal worship started to perish, ‘the earth’ being the Church. ‘And from there Jehovah scattered them over the face’ of the whole earth’ means that internal worship ceased to exist.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1326 sRef Gen@11 @9 S0′ sRef Jer@50 @3 S0′ 1326. That ‘therefore He called the name of it Babel’ means such worship, namely that meant by ‘Babel’, is clear from what has been stated so far – about worship which inwardly contains self-love and therefore everything that is filthy and unholy. Self-love is nothing else than the proprium, and how filthy and unholy this is becomes clear from what has been shown already about the proprium in 210, 215. From philautia,* that is, from self-love or the proprium, flow all evils, such as those of hatred, revenge, cruelty, adultery, deceit, hypocrisy, and irreligion. Consequently when self-love or the proprium is present in worship, such evils are present too – but the particular kind of evils and their intensity being determined by the extent and nature of what flows from that self-love. This is the origin of all profanation in worship. The fact of the matter is that insofar as self-love or the proprium introduces itself into worship, internal worship departs, that is, internal worship ceases to exist. Internal worship consists in the affection for good and in the acknowledgement of truth, but to the extent that self-love or the proprium intrudes or enters in, the affection for good and the acknowledgement of truth depart or go away. Holiness cannot possibly co-exist with unholiness, any more than heaven can with hell. Instead one must depart from the other. Such is the state and proper order existing in the Lord’s kingdom. This is the reason why among the kind of people whose worship is called ‘Babel’ no internal worship exists, but instead something dead and indeed inwardly corpse-like is worshipped. This shows what their external worship which is inwardly such is like.

[2] That such worship is ‘Babel’ is clear from many parts of the Word where Babel is described, as in Daniel, where the description of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel saw in a dream – whose head was gold, breast and arms silver, belly and thighs bronze, legs iron, and feet partly iron and partly clay – means that true worship finally deteriorated into the kind of worship called ‘Babel’, and therefore also a stone cut out of the rock smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold, Dan. 2:31- 33, 44, 45. The statue of gold which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel set up, and which people were to adore, had no other meaning, Dan. 3:1-end. The same applies to the description of the king of Babel with his nobles drinking wine from the vessels of gold that had come from the Temple in Jerusalem, of their praising the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and stone, and of writing therefore appearing on the wall, Dan. 5:1-end; to the description of Darius the Mede commanding that he be adored instead of God, Dan. 6:1-end; and to that of the beasts seen by Daniel in a dream, Dan 7:1-end, as well as to that of the beasts and Babel in John’s Revelation.

sRef Isa@13 @22 S3′ sRef Isa@13 @8 S3′ sRef Rev@18 @2 S3′ sRef Isa@13 @10 S3′ sRef Isa@13 @21 S3′ sRef Isa@21 @9 S3′ sRef Rev@17 @5 S3′ [3] That such worship was meant and represented is quite clear not only in Daniel and John but also in the Prophets: in Isaiah,

Their faces were faces of flames; the stars of the heavens and their constellations do not give their light The sun is darkened in its coming up and the moon does not shed its light Tziim lie down there, and their houses are full of ochim, and daughters of the owl dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and iim answer in its palaces, and dragons in its halls of pleasure. Isa. 13:8, 10, 21, 22

This refers to Babel and describes the internal aspect of such worship by ‘faces of flames’, which are evil desires; by ‘the stars’, which are truths of faith, ‘not giving their light’; by ‘the sun’, which is holy love, ‘being darkened’; by ‘the moon’, which is the truth of faith, ‘not shedding its light’; by ‘tziim, ochim, daughters of the owl, satyrs, dim, and dragons’, which are the more interior aspects of worship. For such things belong to self-love or the proprium. This also is why Babel in John is called ‘the mother of whoredoms and abominations’, Rev. 17:5; and in the same book,

A dwelling-place of demons,** and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Rev. 18:2.

From these places it is evident that when such things are within, it is impossible for any good or truth of faith to be there, and that to the extent that those things enter in, the goods which are the objects of affection, and the truths of faith, depart. They are also called in Isa. 21:9 ‘the graven images of the gods of Babel’.

sRef Isa@47 @1 S4′ sRef Isa@14 @14 S4′ sRef Isa@14 @15 S4′ sRef Isa@47 @10 S4′ sRef Isa@14 @4 S4′ sRef Isa@14 @13 S4′ [4] That it is self-love or the proprium which lies within their worship, or that it is worship of self, is quite clear in Isaiah,

Prophesy this parable against the king of Babel, You said in your heart, I will go up the heavens, above the stars of God I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the uttermost parts of the north. I will go up above the heights of the cloud, I will make myself like the Most High. But you will be brought down to hell. Isa. 14:4, 13-15.

Here, it is plain, Babel means the person who wishes to be worshipped as a god, that is, worship of self is meant.

sRef Jer@51 @25 S5′ sRef Jer@51 @53 S5′ [5] In the same prophet,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. You trusted in your wickedness, you said, No one sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray; you said in your heart, I am, and there is no one besides me. Isa. 47:1, 10.

In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth; and I will stretch out My hand over you and roll you down from the rocks and will make you into a mountain of burning. Though Babel rise up into the heavens, and though she fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me those who lay waste will come to her. Jer. 51:25, 53.

This again shows that ‘Babel’ is worship of self.

[6] The fact that such people have no light of truth, but only total darkness, that is, that they do not possess the truth of faith, is described in Jeremiah,

The word which Jehovah spoke against Babel, against the land of the Chaldeans, There will come up upon her a nation from the north, which will make her land a desolation, and none will dwell in it; both man and beast will scatter themselves, they will go away. Jer. 50:1, 3.

‘The north’ stands for thick darkness, or absence of truth. ‘No man and no beast’ stands for the absence of good. For more about Babel, see at verse 28*** below, where Chaldea is referred to.
* A Greek word, also used in late Medieval or Neo-Latin, which means self-love, self-regard.
** The Latin means dragons, but the Greek means demons, which Sw. has in other pieces where he quotes this verse.
*** i.e. 1368

AC (Elliott) n. 1327 sRef Gen@11 @9 S0′ 1327. ‘Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth’ means the state of this Ancient Church, that internal worship started to perish. This is clear from the fact that the phrase used is ‘the lip of the whole earth’ and not, as previously in verse 7, the lip of those who started to build a city and a tower. ‘The face of the whole earth’ means the state of the Church since ‘the earth’ is the Church, as shown already in 662, 1066. The story of the Churches after the Flood is as follows: There were three Churches which receive specific mention in the Word – the first Ancient Church which took its name from Noah, the second Ancient Church which took its name from Eber, and the third Ancient Church which took its name from Jacob, and subsequently from Judah and Israel.

[2] As regards the first Ancient Church, that called Noah, this was the parent so to speak of those that followed, and as is usually the case with Churches in their earliest phases, it was more untarnished and innocent, as is also clear from verse 1 of this chapter which says that it had one lip, that is, one doctrine. That is to say, everyone regarded charity as the essential. But in the course of time, as usually happens to Churches, that Church also started to decline, chiefly because many people started to divert worship to themselves so as to set themselves above others, as is clear from verse 4 above – ‘they said, Let us build ourselves a city and a tower, and its head in heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves’. In the Church such people were inevitably like some fermenting agent, or like firebrands that start a fire. When the danger of profaning what is holy was consequently near at hand, referred to in 571, 582, the state of this Church was, in the Lord’s Providence, altered. That is to say, its internal worship perished but its external worship remained, which here is meant by the statement that ‘Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth’. From this it is also clear that the kind of worship called Babel was not prevalent in the first Ancient Church but in those that followed when people started to be worshipped in place of gods, especially after they had died. This was the origin of so many pagan deities.

[3] The reason internal worship was allowed to perish and external remain was to prevent what is holy being profaned. The profanation of what is holy carries eternal condemnation with it. Nobody is able to profane what is holy unless he possesses cognitions of faith and also acknowledges them. Anyone who does not possess them cannot acknowledge them, still less profane them. It is internal things which may be profaned, for it is in internal things, not external, that holiness resides. The situation is similar with someone who does evil but does not have evil in mind. The evil he does cannot be attributed to him any more than to someone who does not deliberately intend evil, or to anyone devoid of rationality. Thus anyone who does not believe in the existence of a life after death, but who nevertheless has external worship, cannot profane the things that belong to eternal life because he does not believe that they exist. The situation is different with those who do know and acknowledge them.

[4] This too is why a person is allowed rather to live engrossed in lusts and pleasures, and so to isolate himself from internal things, than to enter into a knowledge and acknowledgement of internal things and so profane them. The Jews of today therefore are allowed to immerse themselves in avarice so that in this way they may be removed from an acknowledgement of internal things, for they are the kind of people who, if they acknowledged them, would inevitably profane them. Nothing does more to isolate a person from internal things than avarice, for this is the lowest of all earthly desires. The same applies to many inside the Church, and to gentiles outside, though gentiles, least of all people, are able to profane anything. This then is the reason for the statement here that ‘Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth’, and the reason why these words mean that the state of the Church was altered, that is to say, its worship became external, having no internal worship within it.

sRef Jer@27 @8 S5′ sRef Jer@29 @17 S5′ sRef Jer@29 @16 S5′ [5] The same situation was represented and meant by the Babylonish captivity into which the Israelites, and later on the Jews, were carried away. This is spoken of in Jeremiah as follows,

And there will be a nation and a kingdom that will not serve the king of Babel, and who will not put its neck in the yoke of the king of Babel. With the sword and famine and pestilence I will visit this people, until I have consumed it by his hand. Jer. 27:8 and following verses.

‘Serving the king of Babel and putting its neck in his yoke’ is being utterly deprived of the knowledge and acknowledgement of the good and the truth of faith, and so of internal worship.

sRef Jer@20 @5 S6′ sRef Jer@20 @4 S6′ [6] The point is clearer still in the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah to all the people in this city, your brethren who did not go out with you into captivity, thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, Behold, I am sending on them the sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like rotten figs. Jer. 29:16, 17.

‘Remaining in the city and not going out to the king of Babel’ represented and meant people who possessed the cognitions of internal things, that is, of the truths of faith, and who profaned them – people on whom, it is said, He was sending ‘the sword, famine, and pestilence’, which are forms of punishment for profanation, and whom He was making ‘like rotten figs’.

[7] That ‘Babel’ means people who deprive others of all knowledge and acknowledgement of truth was also represented and meant by the following words in the same prophet,

I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babel, and he will carry them off to Babel, and will smite them with the sword. And I will give over all the wealth of this city, and all its labour, and all its precious things; and I will give all the treasures of the kings of Judah into the hand of their enemies, and they will plunder them and seize them. Jer. 20:4, 5.

Here ‘all its wealth, all its lab our, all its precious things, all the treasures of the kings of Judah’ means in the internal sense cognitions of faith.

sRef Jer@25 @9 S8′ sRef Jer@25 @11 S8′ [8] In the same prophet,

With the families of the north I will bring the king of Babel against this land and against its inhabitants, and against all those nations round about, and I will utterly destroy them and make them into a ruin, a hissing, and everlasting wastes. And this whole land will be a waste. Jer. 25:9, 11.

Here ‘Babel’ is used to describe the vastation of the interior things of faith, that is, of internal worship. Indeed, as shown already, anyone whose worship is worship of self possesses no truth of faith. He destroys and lays waste, and leads off into captivity, everything that is true. This is why Babel is also called ‘a destroying mountain’ in Jer. 51:25.

For more concerning Babel, see what has been stated already in 1182.

AC (Elliott) n. 1328 sRef Gen@11 @9 S0′ 1328. ‘And from there Jehovah scattered them over the face* of the whole Earth’ means that internal worship ceased to exist. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘scattering’ as being dispersed. In the proximate sense those who wanted to build the city of Babel are meant by ‘being scattered over the face* of the whole earth’. But because they are people who deprive others of all knowledge of truth, as has been stated, these words at the same time mean the loss of internal worship; for one is the consequence of the other. Here the consequence is meant because this is the third time that this statement is made. That the first Ancient Church had been deprived of cognitions of truth and good is clear from the consideration that the nations which constituted that Ancient Church became for the most part idolatrous, though they still possessed some form of external worship. The lot of idolaters outside the Church is far better than that of idolaters inside it. The former are external idolaters, but the latter are internal. The fact that the lot of the former is better is clear from what the Lord says in Luke 13:23, 28-30; Matt. 8:11, 12. This then is the reason why the state of this Ancient Church was altered.
* lit. the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1329 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1329. Verse 10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was a son of a hundred years, and he begot Arpachshad two years after the Flood. ‘These are the generations of Shem’ means the derivatives of the second Ancient Church, ‘Shem’ being internal worship in general. ‘A hundred years’ means the state of that Church at the beginning. ‘Arpachshad’ was a nation so named which means knowledge. ‘Two years after the Flood’ means the second Church after the Flood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1330 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1330. That ‘these are the generations of Shem’ means the derivatives of the second Ancient Church is clear from the meaning of ‘generations’ as the origin and derivation of forms of doctrine and of worship, as stated already in 1145. Here and elsewhere in the Word ‘generations’ are nothing other than the things that constitute the Church, thus forms of doctrine and of worship. The internal sense of the Word encompasses nothing else. Consequently when any Church is born the generations of it are mentioned, as with the Most Ancient Church in Gen. 2:4, ‘These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth’; and likewise with the other Churches that succeeded it before the Flood, ‘This is the book of the generations’, Gen. 5:1. The same is true of the Churches after the Flood which were three in number – the first called Noah, the second taking its name from Eber, the third from Jacob and subsequently from Judah and Israel. Verse 1 of the previous chapter, where the first Church is described, starts in similar fashion, ‘These are the generations of the sons of Noah’, as does the present verse in reference to this second Church taking its name from Eber, ‘These are the generations of Shem’, and in reference to the third as well, in verse 27 below, ‘These are the generations of Terah’. Consequently ‘generations’ means nothing other than the origins and derivatives of forms of doctrine and of worship in the Church that is being described. The reason why the generations of this second Ancient Church are traced back to Shem, that is, why its beginning is described from Shem onwards, is that ‘Shem’ means internal worship, here the internal worship of this Church. Not that the nature of the internal worship of this Church was the same as that meant by ‘Shem’ in the previous chapter, but only that it is the internal worship of this Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1331 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1331. That ‘Shem’ is internal worship in general is clear from what has just been said. The nature of the internal worship of this Church is evident from the people referred to one after another from Shem, that is to say, they all had to do with factual knowledge. Further confirmation of this is gained from the numbers of the years when those numbers are examined more closely and broken down into their components.

AC (Elliott) n. 1332 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1332. ‘A hundred years’ means the state of this Church in general. This is clear from what has been stated and shown already in 482, 487, 488, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 893, about numbers and years in general meaning periods of time and states. But which states and what kinds are meant by the number ‘a hundred years’, and also by the numbers of years mentioned in later verses of this chapter, would take too long to explain here. And what is more, it is a complicated subject.

AC (Elliott) n. 1334 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1334.* The fact that ‘Arpachshad’ was a nation so named and that it means knowledge has been stated at verse 24 of the previous chapter, in 1236.
* There is no paragraph 1333 in the Latin.

AC (Elliott) n. 1335 sRef Gen@11 @10 S0′ 1335. That ‘two years after the Flood’ means the second Church after the Flood becomes clear from the fact that in the Word ‘a year’, as also ‘a day’ and ‘a week’, means an entire period, long or short, consisting of few or of many years. Indeed it means a period considered in the abstract, as may be seen from the places quoted already in 488 and 893. The same applies here to ‘two years after the Flood’, which means the second period of the Church, which was when this second Ancient Church came into being.

AC (Elliott) n. 1336 sRef Gen@11 @11 S0′ 1336. Verse 11 And Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters. ‘Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years’ means duration and state, ‘Shem’ here, as previously, meaning internal worship in general, and ‘Arpachshad’ knowledge. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means matters of doctrine.

AC (Elliott) n. 1337 sRef Gen@11 @11 S0′ 1337. There is no need to confirm that these things are meant as it is clear from the meaning of the same words when used previously. Only this need be said, that the internal worship of this Church was merely a kind of factual knowledge, and so a kind of love which can be called the love of truth. For when this Church first began, scarcely any charity remained, and thus scarcely any faith, which does not exist at all without charity. This too is clear from what has been stated above concerning the city and tower of Babel, that ‘Jehovah confounded the lip of the whole earth’, verse 9.

AC (Elliott) n. 1338 sRef Gen@11 @11 S0′ 1338. That ‘begetting sons and daughters’ means matters of doctrine is clear from the meaning of ‘sons’, dealt with already in 264, 489-491, 533.

AC (Elliott) n. 1339 sRef Gen@11 @12 S0′ 1339. Verse 12 And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and he begot Shelah.

‘Arpachshad lived thirty-five years’ means the beginning of the second state of this Church, and also the second state itself, ‘Arpachshad’ here, as previously, meaning knowledge. ‘And he begot Shelah’ means a derivative from that, ‘Shelah’ being a nation so named which means that which comes from knowledge.

AC (Elliott) n. 1340 sRef Gen@11 @12 S0′ 1340. There is no need to confirm that this is what these words mean as it has been stated already at verse 24 of the previous chapter* that ‘Shelah’ was a nation so named and that it means that which is the offspring of knowledge.
* i.e. 1237

AC (Elliott) n. 1341 sRef Gen@11 @13 S0′ 1341. Verse 13 And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelah four hundred and three years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelah four hundred and three years’ means duration and state, ‘Arpachshad’ here, as previously, meaning knowledge, and ‘Shelah’ that which is the offspring of knowledge. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means matters of doctrine.

AC (Elliott) n. 1342 sRef Gen@11 @14 S0′ 1342. Verse 14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and he begot Eber.

‘Shelah lived thirty years’ means the beginning of the third state, ‘Shelah’ here, as previously, meaning that which is the offspring of knowledge. ‘And he begot Eber’ means a derivative from this, ‘Eber’ being a nation, the Hebrew nation, which took its name from Eber as its forefather, and which means the worship in general of the second Ancient Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1343 sRef Gen@11 @14 S0′ 1343. That ‘Eber’ was a nation, the Hebrew nation, which took its name from ‘Eber’ as its forefather, and which means the worship in general of the second Ancient Church, is clear from the references to him in the historical sections of the Word. Because a new form of worship began with that nation, all those were called Hebrews whose worship was similar to it. Their worship was like that re-established at a later time among the descendants of Jacob, its chief features being that they called their God Jehovah and held sacrifices. The Most Ancient Church was of one mind in acknowledging the Lord and calling Him Jehovah, as is clear also from the early chapters of Genesis and elsewhere in the Word. The Ancient Church, that is, the Church after the Flood also acknowledged the Lord and called Him Jehovah, especially those who possessed internal worship and were called ‘the sons of Shem’. The remainder whose worship was external also acknowledged Jehovah and worshipped Him. But when internal worship became external, and still more when it became idolatrous, and when each nation started to have its own god to worship, the Hebrew nation retained the name of Jehovah and called their own God Jehovah. In this they were different from all other nations

sRef 1Sam@4 @8 S2′ sRef Ex@3 @14 S2′ sRef 1Sam@4 @7 S2′ sRef Ex@5 @2 S2′ sRef Ex@3 @13 S2′ sRef 1Sam@4 @9 S2′ sRef Ex@3 @15 S2′ sRef Ex@3 @18 S2′ sRef Ex@5 @3 S2′ sRef 1Sam@4 @6 S2′ [2] Along with external worship, Jacob’s descendants in Egypt, including Moses himself, lost knowledge even of this fact, that their God was called Jehovah. Consequently they had first of all to be taught that Jehovah was the God of the Hebrews, and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as becomes clear from the following in Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, You and the elders of Israel shall go in to the king of Egypt, and you shall say to him, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now let us go, pray, a three days’ journey into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Exod. 3:18.

In the same author,

Pharaoh said, Who is Jehovah that I should hearken to His voice to send Israel away? I do not know Jehovah, and moreover I will not send Israel away. And they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us; let us go, pray, a three days’ journey into the wilderness, and let us sacrifice to Jehovah our God. Exod. 5:2, 3.

[3] The fact that Jacob’s descendants lost in Egypt, along with the worship, even the name of Jehovah becomes clear from the following in Moses,

Moses said to God, Behold, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I tell them? And God said to Moses, I Am Who I Am. And He said, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, I Am has sent me to you. And God said moreover to Moses, Thus shall you say to the children of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you; this is My name for ever. Exod. 3:13-15.

sRef Jonah@1 @9 S4′ sRef Ex@9 @13 S4′ sRef Ex@7 @16 S4′ sRef Ex@10 @3 S4′ sRef Ex@9 @1 S4′ [4] From this it is evident that even Moses did not know it and that they were distinguished from everyone else by the name of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews. Hence also Jehovah is elsewhere called the God of the Hebrews,

You shall say to Pharaoh, Jehovah the God of the Hebrews has sent me to you. Exod. 7:16.

Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews. Exod. 9:1, 13.

Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews Exod. 10:3.

In Jonah,

I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah, the God of heaven. Jonah 1:9.

And also in Samuel,

The Philistines heard the noise of the shouting and said, What does the noise of this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean? And they learned that the Ark of Jehovah had come to the camp. The Philistines said, Woe to us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Acquit yourselves like men, O Philistines, lest you be slaves to the Hebrews. 1 Sam 4:6, 8, 9.

Here also it is evident that nations were distinguished from one another by the gods whose names they called on, and that the Hebrew nation was distinguished by that of Jehovah.

sRef Gen@40 @15 S5′ [5] The fact that sacrifices were the second essential feature of the worship of the Hebrew nation is also evident from the words from Exod 3:18; 5:2, 3, quoted above, as well as from the fact that the Egyptians abhorred the Hebrew nation on account of this form of worship, as is clear from the following in Moses,

Moses said, It is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing to Jehovah our God what is abhorrent to the Egyptians; behold, we would be sacrificing what is abhorrent to the Egyptians in their eyes; will they not stone us? Exod. 8:26.

Consequently the Egyptians also abhorred the Hebrew nation so much that they refused even ‘to eat bread’ with them, Gen. 43:32. From this it is also evident that not merely the descendants of Jacob constituted the Hebrew nation but everybody who possessed that kind of worship. This also was why in Joseph’s day the land of Canaan was called the land of the Hebrews,

Joseph said. By theft I have been taken away out of the land of the Hebrews. Gen. 40:15.

[6] The fact that sacrifices took place among the idolaters in the land of Canaan becomes clear from many references, for they used to sacrifice to their gods – to the baals and to others What is more, Balaam, who came from Syria where Eber had lived, that is, where the Hebrew nation had originated, before Jacob’s descendants entered the land of Canaan, not only offered sacrifices but also called his God Jehovah. As to the fact that Balaam came from Syria where the Hebrew nation had originated, see Num. 23:7; that he offered sacrifices, Num. 22:39, 40; 23:1-3, 14, 29; that he called his God Jehovah, Num. 22:18, and elsewhere in those chapters. And Gen. 8:20 speaks of Noah offering burnt offerings to Jehovah – though this is not true history but made-up history – for ‘burnt offerings’ means the holiness of worship, as may be seen in that story. These considerations now show what ‘Eber’ or ‘the Hebrew nation’ means.

AC (Elliott) n. 1344 sRef Gen@11 @15 S0′ 1344. Verse 15 And Shelah lived after he begot Eber four hundred and three years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Shelah lived after he begot Eber four hundred and three years’ means duration and state, ‘Shelah’ here, as previously, being that which is the offspring of knowledge, ‘Eber’ here, as previously, the worship in general of this Church. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means matters of doctrine.

AC (Elliott) n. 1345 sRef Gen@11 @16 S0′ 1345. Verse 16 And Eber lived thirty-four years, and he begot Peleg. ‘Eber lived thirty-four years’ means the beginning of the fourth state of this Church, ‘Eber’ here, as previously, being the worship in general of this Church. ‘And he begot Peleg’ means a derivative from it, ‘Peleg’ being a nation so named from him as its forefather which means external worship.

[1345a] That ‘Peleg’ here means external worship follows from the sequence of derivations of worship, and so from his derivation. In verse 25 of the previous chapter where it is said that ‘in his days the land was divided’, this name had a different meaning, for the reason that there he and his brother Joktan together represented that Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1346 sRef Gen@11 @17 S0′ 1346. Verse 17 And Eber lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Eber lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years’ means duration and state, ‘Eber’ and ‘Peleg’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means matters of doctrine existing as forms of ritual.

AC (Elliott) n. 1347 sRef Gen@11 @18 S0′ 1347. Verse 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and he begot Reu.

‘Peleg lived thirty years’ means the beginning of the fifth state, ‘Peleg’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot Reu’ means a derivative from it, ‘Reu’ being a nation so named from him as its forefather which means worship even more external.

AC (Elliott) n. 1348 sRef Gen@11 @19 S0′ 1348. Verse 19 And Peleg lived after he begot Reu two hundred and nine years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Peleg lived after he begot Reu two hundred and nine years’ means duration and state, ‘Peleg’ and ‘Reu’ haying the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means forms of ritual.

AC (Elliott) n. 1349 sRef Gen@11 @20 S0′ 1349. Verse 20 And Reu lived thirty-two years, and he begot Serug. ‘Reu lived thirty-two years’ means the beginning of the sixth state, ‘Reu’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot Serug’ means a derivative from it, ‘Serug’ being a nation so named from him as its forefather which means worship confined to externals

AC (Elliott) n. 1350 sRef Gen@11 @21 S0′ 1350. Verse 21 And Reu lived after he begot Serug two hundred and seven years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Reu lived after he begot Serug two hundred and seven years’ mean duration and state, ‘Reu’ and ‘Serug’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means the forms of ritual belonging to such worship.

AC (Elliott) n. 1351 sRef Gen@11 @22 S0′ 1351. Verse 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and he begot Nahor. ‘Serug lived thirty years’ means the beginning of the seventh state of this Church, ‘Serug’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot Nahor’ means a derivative from it, ‘Nahor’ being a nation so named from him as its forefather which means worship verging on the idolatrous.

AC (Elliott) n. 1352 sRef Gen@11 @23 S0′ 1352. Verse 23 And Serug lived after he begot Nahor two hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Serug lived after he begot Nahor two hundred years’ means duration and state, ‘Serug’ and ‘Nahor’ having the same meaning here as previously. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means the forms of ritual belonging to such worship.

AC (Elliott) n. 1353 sRef Gen@11 @24 S0′ 1353. Verse 24 And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and he begot Terah.

‘Nahor lived twenty-nine years’ means the beginning of the eighth state of this Church, ‘Nahor’ here, as previously, meaning worship verging on what is idolatrous. ‘And he begot Terah’ means a derivative from it, ‘Terah’ being a nation so named from him as its forefather which means idolatrous worship.

AC (Elliott) n. 1354 sRef Gen@11 @25 S0′ 1354. Verse 25 And Nahor lived after he begot Terah a hundred and nineteen years; and he begot sons and daughters.

‘Nahor lived after he begot Terah a hundred and nineteen years’ means duration and state, ‘Nahor’ here, as previously, meaning worship verging on what is idolatrous, ‘Terah’ idolatrous worship. ‘And he begot sons and daughters’ means idolatrous forms of ritual.

AC (Elliott) n. 1355 sRef Gen@11 @26 S0′ 1355. Verse 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

‘Terah lived seventy years’ means the beginning of the ninth and final state, ‘Terah’ here, as previously, meaning idolatrous worship. ‘And he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran’ means derivatives from it, Abram, Nahor, and Haran being actual people after whom nations that were idolaters were also named.

AC (Elliott) n. 1356 sRef Gen@11 @26 S0′ sRef Josh@24 @2 S1′ sRef Josh@24 @14 S1′ sRef Josh@24 @15 S1′ 1356. That ‘Terah’ means idolatrous worship becomes clear from the derivatives mentioned from verse 20 down to this point. This second Ancient Church declined from a kind of internal worship, becoming adulterated as it did so until in the end it became idolatrous, as Churches usually do. They pass from internal things to external, ending up with mere externals when internal things have been erased. The fact that the same happened to this Church, even to the extent that a large part of them did not acknowledge Jehovah as God but worshipped other gods, is clear in Joshua,

Joshua said to all the people, Thus said Jehovah, the God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt of old beyond the River, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Josh. 24:2.

Now fear Jehovah, and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, and in Egypt, and serve Jehovah. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve Jehovah, choose this day whom you are to serve, whether the gods which your fathers served who were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites. Josh. 24:14, 15.

From this it is quite evident that Terah, Abram, and Nahor were idolaters.

sRef Ex@6 @2 S2′ sRef Ex@6 @3 S2′ [2] The fact that Nahor was a nation in which idolatrous worship existed is clear also from Laban the Syrian, who dwelt in the city of Nahor and who worshipped the images or teraphim which Rachel carried away with her, Gen. 24:10; 31:19, 26, 32, 34. And the fact that Abraham had one god, Nahor another, and Terah their father yet another, is clear from Gen. 31:53. It is also explicitly stated in Moses that Jehovah was unknown to Abram,

I, Jehovah, appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Shaddai, and by My name Jehovah I was not known to them. Exod. 6:3.

From this it is evident how much this Church with this people declined into idolatrous worship, which is meant here by ‘Terah’. And since Terah means that worship, so do Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

AC (Elliott) n. 1357 sRef Gen@11 @26 S0′ 1357. There are three general kinds of idolatry. The first is associated with self-love, the second with love of the world, and the third with the desire for pleasures. All idolatrous worship has one or another of these as its end in view. The worship of such people has no other ends in view, for they neither know nor care about eternal life, and even deny its existence. These three kinds of idolatry are meant by ‘the three sons of Terah’

AC (Elliott) n. 1358 sRef Gen@11 @26 S0′ 1358. Abram, Nahor, and Haran were actual people after whom nations that were idolaters were also named, as is clear from the historical sections of the Word. That this was so in the case of Nahor has been shown already, for the city itself was called ‘the city of Nahor’, Gen. 24:10. At that time cities were nothing else than families dwelling together; and many families constituted a nation. That many nations were born from Abraham is clear not only from the descendants of Ishmael, who were the Ishmaelites, but also from the descendants of his many sons born to his wife Keturah, whose names are given in Gen. 25:1-4.

AC (Elliott) n. 1359 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1359. Verse 27 And these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begot Lot.

‘These are the generations of Terah’ means the origins and derivatives of the idolatry, from which a representative Church emerged. Terah was the son of Nahor, and also a nation that was named after him as its forefather. He means idolatrous worship. Abram, Nahor, and Haran were the sons of Terah and also nations that were named after them as their forefathers. Here they mean forms of idolatrous worship stemming from them. From Lot also two nations descended which were idolaters.

AC (Elliott) n. 1360 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1360. That ‘these are the generations of Terah’ means the origins and derivatives of idolatry, from which a representative Church emerged, [is clear from what has just been said.]* That ‘generations’ means origins and derivatives has been shown above at verse 10 of this chapter. The present verse deals with the third Church after the Flood which took the place of the second, when that second one, dealt with from verse 10 down to this point, came to be idolatrous in Terah. It has been shown already that Terah, Abram, Nahor, and Haran were idolaters, as well as that nations were descended from them, such as the Ishmaelites, the Midianites, and others who were descendants of Abram, not to mention others in Syria descended from Nahor, and also the Moabites and Ammonites who were the descendants of Lot.
* A few words seem to have been omitted from the Latin.

AC (Elliott) n. 1361 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1361. The fact that the Church became representative as the result of idolatry nobody is able to know unless he knows what a representative is. The things that were represented in the Jewish Church, and in the Word, are the Lord and His kingdom, and therefore the celestial things of love and the spiritual things of faith. These are the things that are represented, in addition to many things that go with them, such as everything belonging to the Church. Those that represent are either persons or else things in the universe or on this earth; in short, all things that are objects of the senses, so much so that scarcely any object is incapable of being representative. It is a general law of representation however that no attention is paid to the representative person or thing, but to the actual subject being represented.

[2] For example: Every king who has lived – in Judah or Israel, or even in Egypt and elsewhere – could represent the Lord Their royal status itself is representative, and thus the worst king of all was able to represent Him, such as the Pharaoh who promoted Joseph over the land of Egypt, or Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, Dan. 2:37, 38, or Saul and all the other kings of Judah and Israel, no matter what kind of men they were. The anointing of them, by virtue of which they were called ‘Jehovah’s anointed’, carried that representation with it. In the same way all priests, however many there were, represented the Lord. Their priestly status itself is representative. This applies even to priests who were evil and immoral, for in representatives no attention is paid to the character of the person involved. And not only human beings but also animals were representative, for example all those used in sacrifice. Lambs and sheep represented celestial things, doves and turtle doves spiritual, as did rams, he-goats, young bulls, and oxen, though these latter represented lower types of celestial and spiritual things.

[3] Nor, as has been stated, was it just living creatures that were representative but also inanimate objects, such as the altar and even the stones of the altar; also the Ark and the Tabernacle together with everything in it; and the Temple too together with everything in it, a fact that anyone is capable of seeing. The lamps, the loaves, and Aaron’s garments were accordingly representative. And not only these but also all the religious ceremonies in the Jewish Church. In the Ancient Churches representatives extended to every object of the senses, such as mountains and hills, and valleys, plains, rivers, streams, springs, reservoirs, woods, trees in general, and every kind of tree in particular, so that every single tree had some definite meaning. Once the Church of meaningful signs had come to an end these things became representatives. These considerations make clear what is to be understood by representatives. And seeing that not only human beings, no matter who or of what character, but also animals and even inanimate objects, could represent celestial and spiritual things – which are things belonging to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and those belonging to the Lord’s kingdom on earth – it is consequently clear what a representative Church is.

[4] Representatives were such that to spirits and angels all things that were carried out according to the prescribed ritual appeared holy, as when the high priest, who had washed himself with water, ministered dressed in the robes of his office, and stood before the lighted candles, no matter what kind of man he was, even the most immoral and an idolater at heart. And the same applied to all other priests, for, as has been stated, in representatives no attention is paid to the person, but only to the actual thing being represented. The representation was completely abstracted from the person, as it was from the oxen, young bulls, or lambs that were sacrificed, or from the blood that was poured out around the altar, or again from the altar itself, and so on.

[5] This representative Church was established after all internal worship had perished, when worship became not only wholly external but also idolatrous It was established so that heaven might be joined in some measure to the earth, that is, the Lord might be joined to human beings by means of heaven. And this came about after conjunction by means of the internal things of worship had perished. The nature of this conjunction by means of representatives alone will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be discussed later on. Representatives do not start until the next chapter, where every single thing from then on is purely representative. At the moment the subject is the state of those who were their forefathers, before some of them and their descendants became representative, whose worship, as shown above, was idolatrous.

AC (Elliott) n. 1362 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1362. That Terah was the son of Nahor, and also a nation that was named after him as its forefather, and that he means idolatrous worship, has been shown already. The fact that Terah was a nation becomes clear from the consideration that nations arising from his sons acknowledged him as their forefather, just as the sons of Jacob – that is, the Jews and Israelites – and also the Ishmaelites, Midianites, and others, acknowledged Abram as theirs and as the Moabites and Ammonites acknowledged Lot. Although these nations were not named after those forefathers, but after their sons, nevertheless when all acknowledge a common forefather and call themselves his sons – for example, the sons of Terah, or the sons of Abraham, or the sons of Lot – a nation is meant in a general sense by each one, as also here by Terah, Abram, Nahor, and Lot, because they are the stocks or roots of nations. The same was true of the descendants of Jacob who were all named after his twelve sons, but are nevertheless called Jacob and Israel, as well as the seed and the sons of Abraham, John 8:33, 39.

AC (Elliott) n. 1363 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1363. That ‘Abram, Nahor, and Haran’ were the sons of Terah and also nations that were named after them as their forefathers, and that here these sons mean forms of idolatrous worship, is clear from what has been shown above and also from the fact that ‘Terah’, whose sons they were, means idolatry. Which forms of idolatrous worship however are meant here by the three sons of Terah and after that by Lot, the son of Haran, becomes clear if the categories of idolatrous worship are examined. There are in general four kinds of idolatrous worship, one more interior than the next. The three more interior types are like sons of the same parent, while the fourth is like the son of the third of these. There are internal and external forms of idolatrous worship. Internal forms are those which condemn a person, external less so. The more interior a form of idolatrous worship is, the more it condemns, while the more exterior it is, the less it does so. Internal idolaters do not acknowledge God but venerate themselves and the world, and treat all their desires as idols. External idolaters however are able to acknowledge God even though they are not aware of who the God of the universe is. Internal idolaters are known by the life they have acquired for themselves; and to the extent that their life is a departure from the life of charity they are interior idolaters. External idolaters are so solely on account of their worship, and although they are indeed idolaters they are nevertheless able to have the life of charity within them. Internal idolaters are capable of profaning holy things, whereas external idolaters are not. Consequently to guard against the profaning of holy things, external idolatry is permitted, as may become clear from what has been stated already in 571, 582, and above at verse 9, in 1327.

AC (Elliott) n. 1364 sRef Gen@11 @27 S0′ 1364. From Lot two nations descended which were idolaters. This is clear from the two sons he had by his daughters, Gen. 19:37, 38, namely Moab and Ammon, from whom the Moabites and the Ammonites sprang, who, as is evident from the Word, were idolaters. Lot is mentioned here as the father of the idolatrous forms of worship meant by Moab and Ammon.

AC (Elliott) n. 1365 sRef Gen@11 @28 S0′ 1365. Verse 28 And Haran died in the presence* of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

‘Haran died in the presence’ of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans’ means that interior worship was erased and became wholly idolatrous, ‘Haran’ meaning interior idolatrous worship, ‘Terah his father’, as previously, meaning idolatrous worship in general, ‘land of his birth’ the source from which it derived, and ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’ external worship containing falsities.
* lit. before the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1366 sRef Gen@11 @28 S0′ 1366. That ‘Haran died in the presence* of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans’ means that interior worship was erased and became wholly idolatrous is clear from the meaning of ‘Haran’, ‘Terah’, ‘birth’, and ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’, and also from the statement that ‘he died in the presence’ of Terah his father’. As regards interior worship being erased and made non-existent, the Church cannot arise anew with any nation until it has been so vastated that no trace of evil or falsity remains in its internal worship. As long as evil is present in internal worship, those goods and truths which constitute its internal worship are obstructed. For as long as evils and falsities are there, goods and truths cannot be received. This becomes clear from the fact that people who have been born into any heresy and who have so confirmed themselves in its falsities as to be entirely persuaded about it can be led only with difficulty, if at all, to receive the truths which are contrary to their falsities. It is different however in the case of gentiles who do not know what the truth of faith is and yet lead charitable lives. This was the reason why the Lord’s Church could not be restored among the Jews but could among gentiles who possessed no cognitions of faith. By means of falsities the Jews darken the light of truth altogether, and in so doing extinguish it. This is less true of gentiles, for they do not know what the truth of faith is, and what people do not know they cannot darken and extinguish.

[2] As a new Church had now to be established, people were selected with whom the goods and truths of faith might be implanted. All knowledge of the good and truth of faith had been wiped out with them, and they had become external idolaters like the gentiles. In reference to Terah and Abram it has been shown above that they were such, that is to say, they worshipped other gods, and did not know Jehovah or consequently what the good and truth of faith were. They had thus become more fitted to receive the seed of truth than other people in Syria with whom cognitions still remained. The fact that cognitions remained with some is clear from Balaam, who came from Syria. He not only worshipped Jehovah but also offered sacrifices and at the same time was a prophet. These considerations then are what this verse contains, that is to say, that interior worship was erased and became wholly idolatrous.
* lit. before the faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1367 sRef Gen@11 @28 S0′ 1367. That ‘Haran’ means interior idolatrous worship and ‘Terah’ idolatrous worship in general has been stated and shown already. That ‘the land of his birth’ means the source from which their idolatrous worship derived is clear from the meaning of ‘birth’ as a source and derivation, dealt with above at verses 10 and 27.

AC (Elliott) n. 1368 sRef Gen@11 @28 S0′ sRef Isa@23 @13 S1′ 1368. That ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’ means external worship containing falsities is clear from the meaning of ‘the Chaldeans’ in the Word. At verse 9 above it has been shown that ‘Babel’ means worship which interiorly contains evils, whereas ‘Chaldea’ means worship which interiorly contains falsities. Consequently Babel means worship which inwardly contains no trace of good and Chaldea worship which inwardly contains no trace of truth. Worship which inwardly contains no trace of good and no trace of truth is worship which interiorly contains what is unholy and idolatrous. That such worship is meant in the Word by ‘Chaldea’ becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Behold, the land of the Chaldeans! This people is not. Asshur founded her in the tziim. They will erect their watch-towers, they will raise up her palaces; he will make her into a ruin. Isa. 23:13.

‘The land of the Chaldeans who are not a people’ stands for falsities, ‘Asshur founded’ for reasonings, ‘watch-towers’ for delusions. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake I have sent into Babel and have broken down all the bars, and the Chaldeans in whose ships there is shouting. Isa. 43:14.

‘Babel’ stands for worship which interiorly contains evil, ‘the Chaldeans’ for worship which interiorly contains falsity. ‘Ships’ means cognitions of truth that have been perverted.

sRef Isa@48 @20 S2′ sRef Ezek@16 @29 S2′ sRef Ezek@16 @26 S2′ sRef Isa@47 @9 S2′ sRef Ezek@16 @28 S2′ sRef Isa@47 @5 S2′ sRef Isa@47 @6 S2′ sRef Ezek@16 @2 S2′ sRef Ezek@16 @3 S2′ [2] In the same prophet,

sit in silence and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, for no more will they call you the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with My people, I rendered My heritage unholy, and I gave them into your hand These two things will come to you suddenly in one day – loss of children and widowhood. In full measure they will come upon you on account of the multitude of your sorceries, and on account of the greatness of your enchantments. Isa. 47:5, 6, 9.

Here it is evident that ‘Chaldea’ means profanation of truth and is called ‘sorceries and enchantments’. In the same prophet,

Go away out of Babel, flee from the Chaldeans. Isa. 48:20.

This stands for flight from profaning good and truth in worship. In Ezekiel,

Make known to Jerusalem her abominations; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. You committed whoredom with the sons of Egypt. You committed whoredom with the sons of Asshur. Hence you multiplied your whoredom even into the land of Chaldea. Ezek. 16:2, 3, 26, 28, 29.

This refers to the Jewish Church in particular. ‘The sons of Egypt’ stands for facts, ‘the sons of Asshur’ for reasonings, ‘the land of Chaldea into which it multiplied its whoredom’ for the profanation of truth.

Anyone may see that Egypt, Asshur, and Chaldea are not used to mean countries, and that no other kind of whoredom is being referred to.

sRef Ezek@23 @5 S3′ sRef Ezek@23 @16 S3′ sRef Ezek@23 @8 S3′ sRef Ezek@23 @14 S3′ sRef Ezek@23 @17 S3′ sRef Ezek@23 @15 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

Oholah committed whoredom and doted on her lovers, the Assyrians her neighbours. And she did not give up her acts of whoredom brought from Egypt. She added to her acts of whoredom. And she saw men; it was portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans painted in vermilion, girded with belts on their loins, with dyed flowing turbans on their heads, all of them leaders in appearance, the likeness of the sons of Babel, the Chaldeans, the land of their nativity. She loved them passionately as soon as she set eyes on them and she sent messengers to them in Chaldea. The sons of Babel defiled her by means of their acts of whoredom. Ezek. 23:5, 8, 14-17.

Here ‘the Chaldeans’, called ‘the sons of Babel’, stands for truths that have been profaned in worship. ‘Oholah’ stands for the spiritual Church which is called ‘Samaria’.*

In Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching into the breadths of the earth, to possess habitations that are not its own. A dreadful and terrible nation; and from itself proceeds its judgement and its pride. Its horses are swifter than leopards, and sharper than the evening wolves. Its horsemen spread out, and its horsemen come from afar. They fly in like an eagle hastening to devour. The whole [nation] comes for violence; the panting desire of its face** is set towards the east. Hab. 1:6, 9.

Here the Chaldean nation is described by means of many representatives meaning the circumstances in which truth is profaned in worship.

A further description of Babel and Chaldea is given in two whole chapters – in Jer. 50 and 51 – where it is plainly evident what they both mean. There Babel plainly means in worship the profanation of celestial things and Chaldea the profanation of spiritual things. From these considerations it is now clear what is meant by ‘Ur of the Chaldeans’, that it is external worship which interiorly contains what is unholy and idolatrous. I have also been allowed to learn from these people themselves that their worship was such.
* Ezek. 23:4 identifies Oholah with Samaria.
** lit. faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1369 sRef Gen@11 @29 S0′ sRef Gen@11 @29 S0′ 1369. Verse 29 And Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran, Milkah’s father and Iskah’s father.

‘Abram and Nahor took to themselves wives, and the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran, Milkah’s father and Iskah’s father’ means marriages of evil and falsity in idolatrous worship, the relationships being as stated here. The husbands mean evils, and the wives falsities.

AC (Elliott) n. 1370 sRef Gen@11 @29 S0′ 1370. That these things are meant would take too long to explain in detail, for one would have to give a detailed explanation of the kinds and derivatives of forms of idolatry. These cannot be known except from their opposites, that is, from the profanation of certain things, such as the profanation of the celestial things of love, and of the spiritual things of love, also of rational ideas deriving from these, and lastly of factual knowledge. These things when profaned constitute the genera and species of forms of idolatry. This does not include forms of idol worship, which are external forms of idolatry, and which are able to be joined to affections for what is good and true, and so to charity, as is the case with gentiles who lead charitable lives one with another. Interior forms of idolatrous worship are meant by the external forms of idolatrous worship in the Word. The births and generations, and also their marriages, which are marriages of evil and falsity, are exactly like those blood relationships and marriages described in verse 27 and in the present verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1371 sRef Gen@11 @30 S0′ 1371. Verse 30 And Sarai was barren; she had no offspring.

‘Sarai was barren; she had no offspring’ means that evil and falsity were no longer reproducing themselves.

AC (Elliott) n. 1372 sRef Gen@11 @30 S0′ 1372. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘barren’, dealt with elsewhere, for, as shown already, ‘son’ and ‘daughter’ mean truth and good, and in the contrary sense evil and falsity. Consequently ‘barren’ means that the evil and falsity of idolatrous worship were no longer reproducing themselves.

AC (Elliott) n. 1373 sRef Gen@11 @31 S0′ 1373. Verse 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son; and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. And they came as far as Haran and remained there. These words mean that people whose worship was idolatrous received instruction in the celestial and spiritual things of faith in order that from them a representative Church might come into being.

AC (Elliott) n. 1374 sRef Gen@11 @31 S0′ 1374. That these things are meant becomes clear from what has been stated above and from what is going to be stated in the next chapter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1375 sRef Gen@11 @32 S0′ 1375. Verse 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

‘The days of Terah were two hundred and five years’ means the duration and the state of idolatrous worship meant by Terah. ‘And Terah died in Haran’ means the end of idolatry and the beginning of the representative Church through Abram.

AC (Elliott) n. 1376 1376. POSITION AND PLACE, AND ALSO DISTANCE AND TIME IN THE NEXT LIFE – continued

I have spoken frequently to spirits about the idea that place and distance with them are not anything real but only appear to be so, being nothing other than their states of thought and affection, which vary in the way place and distance do and which visually present themselves as such in the world of spirits. This is not so much the case with angels in heaven. They have no idea of place or of time, but only of states. Spirits however who cling to bodily and earthly ideas do not comprehend this because they imagine that everything really is exactly as they behold it. Such spirits can scarcely be led to believe otherwise than that they are living in the body, and refuse to be convinced that they are spirits. Thus they can scarcely be led to believe that any appearances or illusions are possible, desiring to live in illusions, and so they shut themselves off from grasping and acknowledging truths and goods, which are very far from being illusions. They have been shown time and again that change of place is merely an appearance, and also an illusion of the senses. In fact there are in the next life two kinds of changes of place. The first is that mentioned already, in which every spirit and angel in the Grand Man remains all the time in his own position; this is an appearance. The second is that in which spirits appear in a place when in fact they are not there at all; this is an illusion.

AC (Elliott) n. 1377 1377. The fact that place, change of place, or distance in the world of spirits is an appearance has been made clear from the consideration that all the souls and spirits that there have been since the beginning of creation appear to remain all the time in their own place. Nor does their place alter unless their state does. And as their state alters so are places and distances with them changed. But since everyone has a general governing state, and particular and individual changes of state nevertheless have regard to the general, spirits consequently go back after such changes to their own position.

AC (Elliott) n. 1378 1378. I have learned both through talking to angels and through actual experience that spirits, as spirits, are not, so far as the organic substances which constitute their bodies are concerned, in the place where they seem to be, but are possibly far away, and yet they still appear there. I know that people who allow themselves to be swayed by illusions will not believe it, but this is nevertheless the truth. This has been illustrated to spirits who have believed nothing to be true which they did not see with their eyes, even though this were sheer illusion, by means of something comparable to that found with men in the world. Take for example the sound of someone’s voice in another person’s ear. Unless that person knew how to distinguish sounds – something he has learned from experience to do since infancy – and unless he saw him at a distance, he would inevitably believe the speaker to be right next to his ear. The same applies in the case of someone beholding objects remote from himself. Unless he saw at the same time other objects in between and so knew from these, or inferred the distance from what he already knew, he would imagine a distant object to be right next to his eye. This is all the more true of the speech of spirits, which is interior speech, and also of their sight, which is interior sight.

[2] The spirits were also told that when plain experience suggested something they ought not therefore to doubt it, even less to deny it, because it did not appear to be so to the senses and they were unable to perceive it. Even in the world of nature many things exist which are contrary to the illusions of the senses, but which people believe because of what visible experience teaches them. Take for example sailing round the world. People who allow themselves to be swayed by illusions would believe that a boat and its crew would fall off the edge when they got to the other side, and that people in the antipodes could never stand on their feet. The same applies to this and many other things in the next life which are contrary to the illusions of the senses but are nevertheless true – for example, the fact that man does not possess life of himself but from the Lord, and many other things. These and other considerations have enabled disbelieving spirits to be brought to believe that it is indeed so.

AC (Elliott) n. 1379 1379. These considerations also show that when spirits walk or are removed and advance from one place to another – occurrences witnessed very frequently – nothing else than changes of state are taking place. That is, such changes appear in the world of spirits as changes of place, but in heaven as changes of state. The same applies to many other things that are representative and present themselves visually there. In the Lord’s Divine mercy these will be dealt with later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1380 1380. The fact that place, change of place, and distance in the next life are also an illusion has been made clear to me from the consideration that by means of delusions spirits can in an instant be taken up on high, as high as possible, and in the same instant taken into the depths, as well as being taken, so to speak, from one end of the universe to the other. Indeed by means of delusions witches and magicians in the next life induce others to believe that when they are in one place they are also simultaneously in another, or even in many places. In this way they pretend to be present everywhere. People who have aspired to great heights during their lifetime, as well as people who were deceivers, often appear overhead. Yet they are still in hell underfoot. As soon as their arrogance is taken away from them they sink down into their own hell, as I have been shown. This is not an appearance but an illusion, for, as has been stated, there are two types of changes of place – the first being that in which every spirit and angel remains all the time in his own position, which is an appearance; and the second being that in which each appears in a place which is not his actual position, which is an illusion.

AC (Elliott) n. 1381 1381. Souls and spirits who have not yet been allotted a permanent position in the Grand Man are conveyed to different places – now this way, now that – and are seen now on one side and now on another, above or below. They are called wandering souls or spirits and are compared to the fluids in the human body that surge up from the stomach, sometimes into the head, sometimes into other parts, and are carried around. This is what happens to these spirits before they reach the appointed place and position in keeping with their own general state. It is their states which alter and wander in this fashion.

AC (Elliott) n. 1382 1382. People inevitably confuse Divine Infinity with infinity of space. And because they do not conceive of infinity of space as anything other than nothingness, as indeed it is, neither do they believe in Divine Infinity. The same applies to Eternity. They cannot conceive of it except as an eternity of time, but it is manifested continually by means of time to those who dwell within [space and] time. The true idea of Divine Infinity is instilled into angels by their being instantaneously under the Lord’s view with no intervening space or time even if they came from the ends of the universe. And the true idea of Divine Eternity is instilled into them by the fact that thousands of years do not appear to them as a period of time, almost as if they had lived for only a minute. Both ideas are also instilled by means of the fact that the present with them includes past and future together. Consequently they have no anxiety about things of the future, nor do they ever have any idea of death, but only of life. And so their whole present includes within it the Lord’s Eternity and Infinity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1383 1383. 12

THE PERCEPTION SPIRITS AND ANGELS HAVE; ALSO SPHERES IN THE NEXT LIFE

Among the marvels in the next life are perceptions, of which there are two kinds. The first, which is angelic, consists in the angels perceiving what is true and good, perceiving what is from the Lord and what from self, and also perceiving the source and nature of their own thoughts, speech, and actions when these spring from self. The second kind is one that is common to all – with angels to the height of perfection, and with spirits according to the particular character of each one – and consists in knowing the character of another as soon as he approaches.

AC (Elliott) n. 1384 1384. As to the first kind – the angelic, which consists in the angels perceiving what is true and good, perceiving what is from the Lord and what from self, and perceiving the source and nature of their own thoughts, speech, and actions when these spring from self – I have been allowed to talk to members* of the Most Ancient Church about their perception. They said that from themselves they neither think nor are able to think anything at all, and that from themselves do not will anything at all, but that in every single thing which they think or will they perceive what comes from the Lord and what from some other source. They also perceive, they have said, not only how much comes from the Lord and how much seemingly from themselves, but also when it seemingly comes from themselves, where it in fact comes from. They in that case perceive which angels it comes from, what is the character of those angels, and what their thoughts are, down to the smallest difference. Thus they perceive what the influx is, and countless other things. Perceptions of this kind exist in great variety. With celestial angels in whom love to the Lord reigns there is a perception of good, and from this of every aspect of truth. And because good is the source of the truth they perceive, they do not entertain any talk about truth, still less any reasoning about it, but simply say, It is so; or, It is not so; whereas spiritual angels, who also have perception, though not such as celestial angels have, are disposed to talk about truth and good. All the same, spiritual angels do perceive these, although with differences, for there are countless varieties of this perception. Such varieties are directly related to their perceiving whether something flows from the Lord’s will, or from His consent, or from His permission – these being quite distinct from one another.
* lit. sons or children

AC (Elliott) n. 1385 1385. There are spirits who belong to the province of the skin, especially its scaly area, who wish to reason about everything, but who have no perception of what good or truth is. Indeed, the more they go on reasoning the less they perceive. They identify reasoning with wisdom; and they do this so that they may appear wise. They have been told that angelic wisdom involves perceiving whether a thing is good or true without reasoning about it, but they have no conception of the possibility of a perception such as this. They are people who during their lifetime had thrown truth and good into confusion by means of scientific and philosophical arguments, and in so doing had seemed to themselves to be more learned than everybody else; but they had not in the first place grasped from the Word any basic ideas of truth, as a result of which they possess less common sense than anybody else

AC (Elliott) n. 1386 1386. As long as spirits imagine that they are self-directed, and that they think from themselves, and that they have knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom originating within themselves, they cannot have perception, but believe it to be an invention.

AC (Elliott) n. 1387 1387. I have spoken on several occasions about perception to those in the next life who, while they lived in the world, imagined that they had the ability to see into and understand all things. I told them that angels perceive that they think and speak, will and act, from the Lord; but they were still unable to envisage what perception was, for they imagined that if all things flowed in from Him in that way they would be bereft of all life. They would be bereft of it because they would not think anything from themselves or from their proprium – in which activity they made life consist – and so it would be another who did the thinking and not they themselves, so that they would be organs without any life in them. They were told however that so far as life is concerned the difference between having perception and not having it is like the difference between darkness and light, and that people first begin to feel alive when they are receiving such perception, for in that case they live from the Lord yet also have a proprium, which is imparted to them together with every happiness and delight. They were also shown from much experience what perception really was, during which time they acknowledged the existence of it. But after a while they again had no knowledge of it, and doubted and denied its existence. This made clear how difficult it is for man to grasp what perception is.

AC (Elliott) n. 1388 1388. The second kind of perception, as has been stated, is common to all, existing with angels to the height of perfection, and with spirits according to the particular character of each one; that is to say, they know the character of another as soon as he approaches, even when he does not say a word. It shows itself immediately by means of a certain remarkable influx. A good spirit is recognized not only from the goodness within him but also from the faith there, and from each word he uses as he is speaking, while a wicked spirit is recognized from his wickedness and unbelief, and from each word he uses as he is speaking. They are recognized so plainly that one could never be mistaken. Something similar occurs among men who likewise, from another person’s gestures, looks, and speech, are sometimes able to know what he is thinking, even though something different is expressed in his speech. With man such knowledge is natural, but it has its origin in and receives its character from that which exists in spirits, and so from the spirit of the individual himself and from his communication with the world of spirits. This communicative perception from this source derives in the first place from the Lord’s will that all goods should be communicable and that all people should be stirred by mutual love and so be happy. This being so, such perception reigns universally among spirits also.

AC (Elliott) n. 1389 1389. Souls who have entered the next life have been amazed that such a communication of another person’s thoughts should exist, and that people should know in an instant not only the nature of another person’s turn of mind but also the nature of his faith. They have been told however that, once separated from the body, the spirit acquires far more excellent capabilities. During his lifetime the objects of the senses are flowing in, and also delusions arising from those things which as a consequence are fixed in the memory, in addition to anxieties over the future, various desires aroused by things of an external nature, concern about food, clothing, shelter, children, and many other matters, to which they give no thought at all in the next life. When those obstacles and hindrances have therefore been removed along with bodily things that are part of mere physical sensation, people enter inevitably into a more perfect state. The same capabilities remain, but these are far more perfect, clear, and unrestricted. This is especially so with those who have lived in charity and faith in the Lord, and also in innocence. Their capabilities are heightened enormously, way above those they had had during their lifetime, till at length they come up to the angelic capabilities of the third heaven.

AC (Elliott) n. 1390 1390. Not only is there a communication of another person’s affections and thoughts but also a communication of his knowledge, so much so that one spirit imagines that he himself has known what another knows, even if he had known nothing at all of such matters. In this way the whole of what another person knows is communicated. Some spirits retain the things so communicated, others do not.

AC (Elliott) n. 1391 1391. Communications are effected both through their conversation with one another, and through ideas and accompanying representations, for the ideas comprising their thought are at the same time representative; and in those ways all things are presented fully. Through one idea they are able to represent more than they can declare with a thousand words. But angels perceive what lies within the idea, what the affection is, what the origin of the affection is, and what its intention is, in addition to further things that are more interior.

AC (Elliott) n. 1392 1392. It is also usual for forms of delight and of happiness in the next life to be communicated from one to many by means of a real transferring that is remarkable, which delight and happiness then affect them in a similar way. These communications are effected without any reduction of delight and happiness with the one who communicates them. I too have been allowed so to communicate delights to others by means of transferences of that kind. This shows what the happiness is like of those who love their neighbour more than themselves and who desire nothing more than to impart their own happiness to others. That desire has its origin in the Lord, who in the same way communicates forms of happiness to the angels. Communications of happiness consist in continual transferences like these, yet without any reflection upon the fact that they flow from so active a source and so to speak from such an open and willing determination.

AC (Elliott) n. 1393 1393. Communications are also effected in a remarkable fashion by means of removings, the nature of which man is not able to perceive. Things that are sad and irksome are removed in an instant, and those which are delightful and happy are presented without any hindrances; for once the former have been removed angels flow in and communicate their own forms of happiness.

AC (Elliott) n. 1394 1394. The perception which angels and spirits have is such that any one of them can know in an instant the nature of the love and faith in another Hence it is that according to their similarity with one another they are joined together into communities, and according to their dissimilarity they are withheld from such associations. And this is so completely the case that not even the smallest difference fails to draw them together or to set them apart. Consequently the communities in heaven are so distinct and separate from one another that it is impossible to envisage anything more distinct, such distinctness being determined by all the differences of love to and faith in the Lord, which are countless. This is how the heavenly form is produced, the nature of which is such that it presents itself as one human being. And this form is constantly being perfected.

AC (Elliott) n. 1395 1395. As regards this kind of perception, I have been enabled to know it from much experience, though it would take up too much space to relate everything. Quite a number of times I have heard deceivers speaking, and have perceived not only the existence of the deception but also the nature of it and what wickedness lay within it. There is in every tone of their voice, so to speak, the image of deception. I have also perceived whether the deception was the spirit’s own, or that of others who spoke through him. It is similar with those who harbor hatred; the nature of the hatred is detected in an instant, and more things within it than anyone could possibly have been led to believe. When persons whom they have hated are brought into their presence, a pitiable state then overtakes those who have harbored such hatred; for whatever they have thought or plotted against anyone else comes out into the open.

AC (Elliott) n. 1396 1396. A certain spirit who wished to lay claim to merit for what he had done and taught while living in the world went away towards the right and came to some who were not such that he could be made one of their community. He said that he was nothing and that he wished to serve them. But they began to perceive what he was really like as soon as he started to approach them, and indeed when he was still a long way off. They replied instantly that he was nothing of the kind, but that he wished to be great, and that this being so he could not live in harmony with those who were lowly. At this he was put to shame and withdrew, amazed that they should know him from such a distance.

AC (Elliott) n. 1397 1397. Since perceptions are so keen, evil spirits cannot go near a sphere or any community where there are good spirits in whom mutual love reigns. When they merely go near they start to feel pain, and to complain and wail as they do so. Out of boldness and self-confidence a certain spirit who was evil pushed his way into a certain community on the outskirts of heaven. But as soon as he got near he could scarcely breathe. He smelt his own corpse-like stench, and as a consequence fell back.

AC (Elliott) n. 1398 1398. There were once many spirits around me who were far from good. An angel came, and I saw that the spirits could not endure his presence, for they backed further and further away as he drew nearer. This amazed me, but I was given to see that the spirits could not abide the sphere he brought with him. From this it was also clear, and from other experience as well, that one angel is able to drive away tens of thousands of evil spirits, for they cannot withstand the sphere of mutual love. Nevertheless I perceived that this angel’s sphere had been tempered through links with other angels. If it had not been modified every one of those spirits would have been put to flight. This shows what kind of perception exists in the next life, and how spirits are joined together into communities or withheld from such associations, in accordance with perceptions.

AC (Elliott) n. 1399 1399. Every spirit has communication with the interior and with the inmost heaven, though he is totally unaware of it. Without it he could not live. His interior character is known by the angels who are in his interiors, and through whom also he is governed by the Lord. Thus communications of his interiors exist in heaven, just as those of his exteriors do in the world of spirits. By means of the interior communications he is fitted for the use into which he is led, without his being aware of it. So also with man, in that he too communicates with heaven by means of angels, though completely unaware of it, for without that communication he could not live. The things which flow in from there into his thoughts are no more than the ultimate effects. From this the whole of his life stems, and from this all the endeavours of his life are governed.

AC (Elliott) n. 1400 1400. The subject of perceptions and of the spheres arising from these is continued, as may be seen, at the end of the chapter.

GENESIS 12

1 And Jehovah said to Abram, Go away from your land, and from the place of your nativity and from your father’s house, to the land which I will cause you to see.

2 And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you will be a blessing.

3 And I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you, and in you will all the families of the ground be blessed.

4 And Abram went, as Jehovah had told him; and Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of seventy-five years when he went out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their acquisitions that they had acquired, and [every] soul which they had gained in Haran. And they came out to go into the land of Canaan; and they came into the land of Canaan.

6 And Abram went through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak-grove of Moreh. And the Canaanite was at that time in the land.

7 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, To your seed will I give this land; and there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him.

8 And he removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east.* And there he built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.

9 And Abram travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south.

10 And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine in the land was serious.

11 And it happened, when he drew near to come into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon.

12 And it will be, when the Egyptians see you they will say, This is his wife, and they will slay me and let you live.

13 Say, now, you are my sister, so that it may go well for me for your sake, and my soul may live because of you.

14 And it happened, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

15 And Pharaoh’s princes saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

16 And he treated Abram well for her sake; and he had flocks and herds, and asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels.

17 And Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of Sarai,** Abram’s wife.

18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife?

19 Why did you say, She is my sister? I might have taken her to be my wife (mulier). And now, behold your wife, take her and go.

20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
* lit. Bethel from the sea (an idiom for from the west) and Ai from the east
** lit. because of the word (or matter) of Sarai

AC (Elliott) n. 1401 sRef Gen@12 @0 S0′ 1401. CONTENTS

Narratives drawing on true history begin here, of which every detail is representative and each word carries a spiritual meaning. The things stated in this chapter regarding Abram represent the Lord’s state from earliest childhood to youth. Since the Lord was born in the same way as any other, He also developed from a state that was obscure to one that had more light. ‘Haran’ is the first state, which is obscure; ‘Shechem’ is the second; ‘the oak-grove of Moreh’ is the third; ‘the mount with Bethel on the west side, and Ai on the cast’ is the fourth; ‘from there towards the south into Egypt’ is the fifth.

AC (Elliott) n. 1402 sRef Gen@12 @0 S0′ 1402. The things that are stated regarding Abram’s sojourn in Egypt represent and mean the instruction which the Lord received first, ‘Abram’ being the Lord, ‘Sarai as a wife’ truth that was to be allied to the celestial, ‘Sarai as a sister’ intellectual truth, and ‘Egypt’ knowledge. An advance from factual knowledge right on to celestial truths is described, which was made in accordance with Divine order, to the end that the Lord’s Human Essence might be joined to the Divine Essence, and at the same time become Jehovah.

AC (Elliott) n. 1403 1403. THE INTERNAL SENSE

From Genesis 1 down to this point, or rather, down to Eber, the narratives have not consisted of true history but of made-up history, which in the internal sense meant things that are celestial and spiritual. In this and subsequent chapters however they are not made-up but true historical narratives, which in the internal sense in like manner mean things that are celestial and spiritual. This may become clear to anyone simply from the consideration that it is the Word of the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1404 1404. In these chapters which contain true historical narratives every single word and statement means in the internal sense something altogether different from what is meant in the sense of the letter. Nevertheless the historical details themselves are representative. ‘Abram’, who is dealt with first, in general represents the Lord, and specifically the celestial man. ‘Isaac’, who is dealt with after that, likewise in general represents the Lord, and specifically the spiritual man; and Jacob’ too in general represents the Lord, and specifically the natural man. Thus they represent things which are the Lord’s, things which belong to His kingdom, and those which belong to the Church.

AC (Elliott) n. 1405 1405. But, as clearly shown already, the internal sense is such that every single thing has to be understood apart from the letter, abstractedly – as though the letter did not exist; for within the internal sense reside the soul and life of the Word, which are not open to view unless the sense of the letter so to speak vanishes. This is how angels are led by the Lord to perceive the Word when it is being read by man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1406 1406. What the historical narratives in the present chapter represent is clear from the introductory ‘Contents’ that appear above. What the words and statements mean becomes clear in what now follows where they are explained.

AC (Elliott) n. 1407 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1407. Verse 1 And Jehovah said to Abram, Go away from your land, and from the place of your nativity and from your father’s house, to the land which I will cause you to see.

The events described here and in what follows took place in history as they are recorded; yet the historical events as described are representative, and every word carries a spiritual meaning. ‘Abram’ is used to mean in the internal sense the Lord, as stated already. ‘Jehovah said to Abram’ means a first awareness of all things. ‘Go away from your land’ means the bodily and worldly things from which He was to depart. ‘And from the place of your nativity’ means bodily and worldly things that were more exterior. ‘And from your father’s house’ means such as were more interior. ‘To the land which I will cause you to see’ means the spiritual and celestial things that were to be brought to view.

AC (Elliott) n. 1408 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1408. The events described here and in what follows took place in history as they are recorded, yet the historical events as described are representative, and every word carries a spiritual meaning. This is so in all of the historical parts of the Word, not only in the Books of Moses but also in those of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, all of which books contain nothing else than historical narratives. But although they are historical narratives in the sense of the letter, in the internal sense there are arcana of heaven lying hidden there. These arcana cannot possibly be seen as long as the mind keeps its eye fixed on the historical details, nor are they disclosed until the mind removes itself from the sense of the letter. The Word of the Lord is like a body that has a living soul within it. The things that belong to the soul are not apparent as long as the mind is fixed on those of the body, so much so that it scarcely believes it possesses a soul, even less that it will be alive after death. But as soon as the mind departs from bodily things, those belonging to the soul and to life show themselves; and in this lies the reason not only why bodily things must die before a person can be born anew or be regenerated, but also why the body must die so that he can enter heaven and behold heavenly things.

[2] The same applies to the Word of the Lord Its bodily parts are the things that constitute the sense of the letter, and when the mind is fixed on these the internal things are not seen at all. But once the bodily parts so to speak have died, the internal for the first time are brought to view. All the same, the things constituting the sense of the letter are like the things present with man in his body, namely the facts belonging to the memory which come in through the senses and which are general vessels containing interior or internal things. From this one may recognize that the vessels are one thing and the essential elements within the vessels another. The vessels are natural, and the essential elements within the vessels are spiritual and celestial. In the same way the historical narratives of the Word, as with each individual expression in the Word, are general, natural, indeed material vessels that have spiritual and celestial things within them. These things never come into sight except through the internal sense.

[3] This may become clear to anyone simply from the fact that many matters in the Word have been stated according to appearances, indeed according to the illusions of the senses, such as that the Lord is angry, punishes, curses, slays, and many other such statements, when in fact the internal sense contains the reverse, namely that the Lord is never angry or punishes, still less curses or slays. All the same, no harm at all is done to people who in simplicity of heart believe the Word as they find it in the letter so long as they are leading charitable lives, the reason being that the Word teaches nothing other than this – that everyone ought to live in charity with his neighbour and to love the Lord above all things. People doing this are in possession of the internal things, and thus with them the illusions acquired from the sense of the letter are easily dispersed.

AC (Elliott) n. 1409 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1409. That the historical events as described are representative, but every word carries a spiritual meaning, becomes clear from what has been stated and shown already about representatives and about things that carry a spiritual meaning in 665, 920, 1361. Since representatives begin at this point, let a further brief explanation be given. The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, regarded all earthly and worldly things, and also bodily things, which were in any way the objects of their senses, as nothing else than things that were dead. But because every single thing in the world presents some idea of the Lord’s kingdom and therefore of celestial and spiritual things, they did not think about those objects whenever they saw them or became aware of them with some sensory power, but about celestial and spiritual things. And indeed they did not think from those worldly objects but by means of them. In this way things with them that were dead became living.

[2] Those things that carried a spiritual meaning were gathered from the lips of those people by their descendants, and these turned them into doctrinal teachings which constituted the Word of the Ancient Church after the Flood. These doctrinal teachings in the Ancient Church were things that carried a spiritual meaning, for through them they came to know internal things, and from them thought about spiritual and celestial things. But after this knowledge began to perish, so that they ceased to know that such things were meant and they started to regard those earthly and worldly things as holy and to worship them without any thought as to their spiritual meaning, those same things at that point became representative. From this arose the representative Church which began in Abram and was subsequently established among the descendants of Jacob. From this it may be known that representatives had their origin in the things in the Ancient Church which carried a spiritual meaning, and that these had their origin in the heavenly ideas present in the Most Ancient Church.

[3] The nature of representatives becomes clear from the historical parts of the Word, where all the acts of those forefathers, that is to say, the acts of Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, and later on of Moses, the judges, and the kings of Judah and Israel, are nothing other than representatives. As has been stated, ‘Abram’ in the Word represents the Lord, and because he represents the Lord, he also represents the celestial man. ‘Isaac’ too represents the Lord, and from that the spiritual man, while ‘Jacob’ likewise represents the Lord, and from that the natural man corresponding to the spiritual.

[4] But the nature of representatives is such that no attention at all is paid to the character of the representative person, only to the thing which he represents. For all the kings of Judah and Israel, no matter what kind of men they were, represented the Lord’s Royalty, and all the priests, no matter what kind of men these were, His Priesthood. Thus bad men as well as good were able to represent the Lord, and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom, for, as stated and shown already, representatives were entirely separate from the person involved. So then all the historical narratives of the Word are representative, and as this is so it follows that all the words of the Word carry a spiritual meaning, that is, they mean something different in the internal sense from what they do in the sense of the letter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1410 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1410. The implications of ‘Jehovah said to Abram’ meaning a first awareness of all things are as follows: The historical incident is representative, but the actual words describing it carry a spiritual meaning. Such was the style in the Ancient Church that if something was true people would say ‘Jehovah said’ or ‘Jehovah spoke’, which, as shown already, meant that it was so. Subsequently however when things carrying a spiritual meaning were converted into representatives, Jehovah – that is, the Lord – at that point spoke to them directly. And when it is then said that ‘Jehovah said’ or ‘Jehovah spoke’ to somebody, it has the same meaning as previously, for the Lord’s words in the true historical narratives embody within them the same as the Lord’s words in the made-up ones. The only difference is that the latter contain that which has been made up to be like true narrative whereas the former have not been made up. ‘Jehovah said to Abram’ therefore means nothing other than a first awareness, as when in the Ancient Church someone through conscience, or through some other dictate, or through their Word, was made aware that something was so, the expression ‘Jehovah said’ would be used.

AC (Elliott) n. 1411 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1411. ‘Go away from your land’ means the bodily and worldly things from which He was to depart. This is clear from the meaning of ‘land’, which is varied depending on the person or thing to which it refers, as also in Genesis 1 where ‘land’, or ‘earth’, likewise meant the external man, and elsewhere, 82, 620, 636, 913. The reason why here it means bodily and worldly things is that these belong to the external man. ‘Land’ in the proper sense is a land itself, region, or kingdom; also the one who inhabits it, as well as its people, and the nation that is there. Thus the word ‘land’ not only means in a broad sense the people or nation but also in a narrower sense the inhabitant. When land is used with reference to the inhabitant the meaning is in accordance with the real things involved in such a reference; in this case bodily and worldly things are involved, because the land of his birth from which Abram was to go was idolatrous. Thus in the historical sense the meaning here is that Abram was to go away from that land, but in the representative sense that the Lord was to depart from the things belonging to the external man, that is, that external things should not get in the way or cause disturbance, and, since the Lord is the subject, that External things should accord with Internal.

AC (Elliott) n. 1412 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1412. ‘From the place of your nativity’ means bodily and worldly things that were more exterior, and ‘from your father’s house’ means such as were more interior. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘nativity’ and from the meaning of ‘father’s house’. There are in man bodily and worldly things, some of which are more exterior, others more interior. The more exterior are those which belong properly to the body, such as physical pleasures and sensory perceptions, while the interior are affections and factual knowledge. It is these that are meant by ‘nativity’ and by ‘father’s house’. That these things are meant may be confirmed from many places, but as the matter is clear from the context in which they belong and from an insight into what occurs in the internal sense there is no need to pause and confirm them.

AC (Elliott) n. 1413 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1413. ‘To the land which I will cause you to see’ means the spiritual and celestial things that were to be brought to view. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a land’, 662, 1066, and indeed from the meaning here of ‘the land of Canaan’ which represents the Lord’s kingdom, as becomes clear from many places in the Word. For this reason the land of Canaan is called the Holy Land, and also the heavenly Canaan. And since it represented the Lord’s kingdom, it also represented and meant the celestial and spiritual things that belong to the Lord’s kingdom, and here those that belong to the Lord Himself.

AC (Elliott) n. 1414 sRef Gen@12 @1 S0′ 1414. Because the subject here is the Lord these words contain more arcana than anyone can possibly conceive and make known. For here in the internal sense is meant the Lord’s first state after He had been born. Because that state is a very deep arcanum any intelligible explanation of it is hardly possible. Let it be said simply that He was like any other human being, except that He was conceived from Jehovah, yet born of a woman who was a virgin, and that by birth from that virgin He took on all the weaknesses that are common to all. These weaknesses are bodily, and are referred to in this verse in that He was to depart from them in order that celestial and spiritual things might be brought into view for Him. There are two heredities that are born together in a human being, one from the father, the other from the mother. The Lord’s heredity from the father was Divine, but that from the mother was human and weak. This weak humanity that a person derives by heredity from the mother is something bodily which is dispelled when he is being regenerated, whereas that which he takes on from the father remains for ever. But the Lord’s heredity from Jehovah was Divine, as has been stated. A further arcanum is that the Lord’s Human also became Divine. In Him alone there was a correspondence of all things of the body with the Divine. This was a most perfect, or infinitely perfect, correspondence, and from it there resulted a union of bodily things with Divine celestial things, and of sensory things with Divine spiritual things. Thus He became the Perfect Man, and the Only Man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1415 sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ 1415. Verse 2 And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you will be a blessing. ‘I will make you into a great nation’ means a kingdom in heaven and on earth – the expression ‘great nation’ being used from things that are celestial and good. ‘And I will bless you’ means fruitfulness in celestial and increase in spiritual things. ‘And I will make your name great’ means glory. ‘And you will be a blessing’ means that from the Lord comes every single thing.

AC (Elliott) n. 1416 sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ 1416. That ‘I will make you into a great nation’ means a kingdom in heaven and on earth becomes clear from the meaning of ‘nation’ in the internal sense as the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this, thus all throughout the world in whom the celestial element of love and charity is present. Since the subject here in the internal sense is the Lord, everything of the celestial and of the good deriving from it, thus His kingdom, is meant – which exists with those in whom love and charity are present. In the highest sense the Lord Himself is ‘the great nation’ since He is the Celestial itself and Good itself. For all good that flows from love and charity originates in Him alone, which also explains why the Lord comprises His own kingdom, that is, He is the All in all of His kingdom, as also all angels in heaven acknowledge. From this it is now clear that ‘I will make you into a great nation’ means the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth.

sRef Gen@17 @5 S2′ sRef Gen@17 @16 S2′ sRef Gen@17 @15 S2′ [2] That ‘nation’ in the internal sense, where the Lord and celestial things of love are the subject, means Him and all celestial things may become clear also from what has been introduced in 1258, 1259, regarding the meaning of a nation and nations. This matter may be confirmed further still from the following places: In reference to Abraham further on,

No longer will your name be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. Gen. 17:5.

The soft ‘h’ sound in Abraham was taken from Jehovah’s name because he represented Jehovah, that is, the Lord. Similarly in reference to Sarai,

You will not call her name Sarai, but Sarah will be her name, and I will bless her, and I will also give you a son by her; thus will I bless her, and she will become nations; kings of peoples will be from her. Gen. 17:15, 16.

‘Nations’ here stands for the celestial things of love, and ‘kings of peoples’ for the spiritual things of faith deriving from that love, which are the Lord’s alone.

sRef Gen@35 @10 S3′ sRef Gen@35 @11 S3′ sRef Gen@21 @13 S3′ sRef Gen@21 @18 S3′ [3] In reference to Jacob likewise,

Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel will be your name. And He called his name Israel, and God said, I am God Almighty,* increase and multiply; a nation and an assembly of nations will come into being from you, and kings will go out from your loins. Gen. 35:10, 11.

Here ‘Israel’ stands for the Lord, who Himself, as is well known to some, is in the highest sense Israel. And when He is meant by ‘Israel’ it is evident that ‘a nation and an assembly of nations’ and ‘kings from his loins’ mean the celestial and spiritual things of love, and therefore all in whom the celestial and spiritual things of love are present. In reference to Ishmael, Abram’s son by Hagar, it is said,

The son of the servant-girl I will make into a nation, because he is your seed. Gen. 21:13, 18.

What Ishmael represents will be seen in that place. ‘The seed of Abram’ means love itself, and because of this the word nation is used for those begotten from Ishmael.

sRef Ex@19 @6 S4′ sRef Jer@31 @36 S4′ sRef Ex@19 @5 S4′ [4] That ‘nation’ means the celestial things of love is clear in Moses,

If you will surely hearken to My voice, and keep My covenant and be a peculiar treasure to Me from among all peoples, you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exod. 19:5, 6.

Here ‘a kingdom of priests’, a phrase used to describe the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth, springing from the celestial things of love, is openly called ‘a holy nation’. But the Lord’s kingdom springing from His Royalty is described as such by virtue of the spiritual things of love and is called ‘a holy people’. ‘Kings from the loins’ therefore, as above,** is spiritual things. In Jeremiah,

If these ordinances depart from before Me, said Jehovah, the seed of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me for ever.*** Jer. 31:36.

‘Seed of Israel’ stands for the celestial entity of charity, and when this ceases to exist there is no longer a nation before the Lord.

sRef Isa@9 @2 S5′ sRef Isa@9 @6 S5′ sRef Isa@9 @3 S5′ sRef Isa@9 @4 S5′ sRef Ps@106 @5 S5′ sRef Isa@9 @7 S5′ [5] In Isaiah,

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. You have multiplied the nation. Isa. 9:2, 3.

Specifically this refers to the Church of the nations,****, but in general to all who are without knowledge but lead charitable lives. These are ‘the nation’ because they are members of the Lord’s kingdom. In David,

O that I may see the good of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the joy of Your nation, that I may glory in Your heritage. Ps. 106:5.

Here ‘nation’ plainly stands for the Lord’s kingdom. It was from an ability to perceive that ‘a nation’ meant the celestial entity of love and the good which flows from this that members of the Most Ancient Church came to be distinguished into separate houses, families, and nations. By this distinguishing they gained a perception of the Lord’s kingdom; and because they had a perception of the Lord’s kingdom they had a perception of the celestial itself. From that ability to perceive there arose that which held a spiritual meaning, and from this that which was representative.
* lit. the Lightning-Hurler or the Thunderbolt-Hurler. Generally Sw. retains the Hebrew Shaddai, usually translated the Almighty, regarding which see 1992 below; but here Sw. employs the Latin word fulminator.
** i.e.. in Gen. 35:10, 11
*** lit. all the days
**** i.e. the Church established among gentiles

AC (Elliott) n. 1417 sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ 1417. That the expression ‘great nation’ is used from things that are celestial and good is clear from what has just been stated and shown, and also from what has appeared already in 1259. From this one may see what is meant in the proper sense by the Church among ‘the nations’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1418 sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ 1418. ‘I will bless you’ means fruitfulness in celestial and increase in spiritual things. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘blessing’ in the Word, to be dealt with in what follows shortly.

AC (Elliott) n. 1419 sRef Matt@20 @26 S0′ sRef Matt@20 @28 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ sRef Matt@20 @27 S0′ sRef Mark@10 @44 S0′ sRef Mark@10 @45 S0′ 1419. ‘And I will make your name great’ means glory. This becomes clear without explanation. In the external sense ‘making a name’ and ‘glory’ mean something worldly, but in the internal sense something heavenly. This heavenly feature does not consist in seeking to be the greatest but, by serving all others, to be the least, as the Lord Himself has stated in Matthew,

It shall not be so among you, but whoever has the wish to become great among you must be your minister, and whoever has the wish to become first must be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to but to minister, and to give His life* as a redemption for many. Matt. 20:26-28; Mark 10:43-45.

This heavenly or celestial entity of love does not wish to exist for itself but for all, thus to impart all that is its own to others. It is in this that heavenly love essentially consists. Since the Lord is love itself, that is, the very essence and life of everyone’s love in heaven, He wishes to impart to the human race everything that is His, which is what He meant when He spoke about the Son of Man coming to give His life as a redemption for many. From this it is clear that ‘name’ and ‘glory’ mean something altogether different in the internal sense from what they do in the external sense. All in heaven therefore who desire to become great and the greatest are cast out, for such desire is contrary to the essence and life of heavenly love which come from the Lord. For that reason also nothing is more contrary to heavenly love than self-love. For these matters, see what has been mentioned from experience in 450, 452, 952.
* lit. soul

AC (Elliott) n. 1420 sRef Jer@4 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@28 @14 S0′ sRef Ps@21 @6 S0′ sRef Gen@18 @18 S0′ sRef Gen@26 @4 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @2 S0′ sRef Ps@72 @17 S0′ 1420. ‘You will be a blessing’ means that every single thing comes from the Lord. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a blessing’. Blessing has reference to every form of good – in the external sense to bodily, worldly, and natural forms, in the internal sense to spiritual and celestial forms. ‘Being a blessing’ means the Source of every form of good and the Giver of this, an attribution that cannot possibly be made to Abram. From this it is also clear that ‘Abram’ represents the Lord, who alone is a Blessing. So also with the attributions made to Abraham further on, such as,

Abraham will surely become a great and numerous nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Gen. 18:18.

Concerning Isaac,

In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed. Gen. 26:4.

And concerning Jacob,

In you all the families of the earth will be blessed, and in your seed. Gen. 28:14.

That nations are not able to be blessed, nor were they blessed, in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and in their seed, but that they were blessed in the Lord, may become clear to anyone. This is clearly stated in David,

His name will be for ever, before the sun His son’s name; and all nations will be blessed in Him Ps. 72:17.

This refers to the Lord. In the same author,

You set Him to be blessings for ever. Ps 21:6.

This also refers to the Lord. In Jeremiah,

In Him the nations will be blessed, and in Him will they glory. Jer. 4:2.

From these places it is now clear that ‘a blessing’ means the Lord, and when He is called a Blessing that it means that from Him come all celestial and spiritual things which alone are goods. And because they alone are goods they alone are truths as well. To the extent therefore that celestial and spiritual forms of good are present in natural, worldly, and bodily forms, the latter are good and are blessed.

AC (Elliott) n. 1421 1421. Verse 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you, and in you will all the families of the ground be blessed.

‘I will bless those who bless you’ means pure happiness to those who from their hearts acknowledge the Lord. ‘And curse him who curses you’ means unhappiness to those who do not acknowledge Him. ‘And in you will all the families of the ground be blessed’ means that all truths and goods are received from the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1422 1422. That ‘I will bless those who bless you’ means pure happiness to those who from their hearts acknowledge the Lord becomes clear from the meaning of ‘blessing’, which includes every single thing received from the Lord, both that which is good and that which is true, thus every celestial, spiritual, natural, worldly, or bodily form of what is good and true. And because in the universal sense ‘blessing’ embraces all of these, the meaning of ‘to bless’ in individual places may be seen from the context in which it occurs, for it fits in with those matters to which it then refers. From this it is clear that ‘I will bless those who bless you’ means pure happiness to those who from their hearts acknowledge the Lord, since here in the internal sense, as has been stated, the Lord is the subject.

sRef Ps@96 @2 S2′ sRef Ps@68 @26 S2′ sRef Dan@2 @19 S2′ sRef Dan@2 @20 S2′ [2] ‘Blessing Jehovah (or the Lord)’ was an expression used commonly among the ancients, as is clear in the Word, for example in David,

Bless God in the assemblies, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel. Ps. 68:26.

In the same author,

Sing to Jehovah, bless His name, proclaim His salvation from day to day. Ps. 96:2.

In Daniel,

In the vision of the night the arcanum was revealed. Therefore Daniel blessed the God of heaven; he said, Let the name of God Himself be blessed for ever and ever, for wisdom and power are His. Dan. 2:19, 20.

And one also reads of Zechariah and Simeon blessing God, Luke 1:64; 2:28. Here it is evident what ‘blessing the Lord’ implies, namely singing to Him, proclaiming His salvation, declaring His wisdom and power, and so confessing and acknowledging Him from the heart. People who do so are most certainly blessed by the Lord, that is, they are gifted with those things which constitute blessing, namely celestial good, spiritual good, natural good, worldly good, and bodily good, and when these forms of good flow consecutively in this order happiness exists within them.

sRef Ps@119 @12 S3′ sRef Ps@66 @20 S3′ sRef Ps@72 @19 S3′ sRef Luke@1 @68 S3′ sRef Ps@144 @1 S3′ sRef Luke@1 @67 S3′ sRef Ps@28 @6 S3′ sRef Ps@31 @21 S3′ sRef Ps@72 @18 S3′ [3] Since ‘blessing Jehovah (or the Lord)’ and ‘being blessed by Jehovah (or the Lord)’ were expressions used commonly among the ancients it was therefore also common to say ‘Blessed be Jehovah’, as in David,

Blessed be Jehovah, for He has heard the voice of my prayers. Ps. 28:6.

In the same author,

Blessed be Jehovah, for He has made His mercy marvellous to me. Ps. 31:21.

In the same author,

Blessed be God, who has not cast away my prayers, nor His mercy from me. Ps. 66:20.

In the same author,

Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things; and blessed be the name of His glory for ever; let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Ps. 72:18, 19.

In the same author,

Blessed are You, O Jehovah, teach me Your statutes! Ps. 119:12.

In the same author,

Blessed be Jehovah, my rock, who trains my hands. Ps. 144:1.

In Luke,

Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the God of Israel, for He has visited and brought deliverance to His people. Luke 1:67, 68.

AC (Elliott) n. 1423 1423. ‘And curse him who curses you’ means unhappiness to those who do not acknowledge Him. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being cursed’ and of ‘cursing’ as turning away from the Lord, as shown already in 245, 379, and therefore as not acknowledging Him; for those who do not acknowledge turn themselves away. Thus ‘cursing’ here implies all those things that are the contrary of what blessing implies.

AC (Elliott) n. 1424 1424. ‘And in you will all the families of the ground be blessed’ means that all goods and truths are received from the Lord. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘blessing’ dealt with in this verse and the previous verse, and also from the meaning of ‘families of the ground’ as all forms of good and truth. Indeed in the Word ‘families’ is similar in meaning to nations, and also to peoples, for ‘families’ is used in the Word in reference both to nations and to peoples, the expressions ‘families of nations’ and ‘families of peoples’ being used to describe them. ‘Nations’, as has been shown, means goods, while ‘peoples’, as has also been shown, means truths, 1259; hence ‘families’ means both goods and truths, 1261. The reason they are called ‘all the families of the ground’ is that all goods and truths are a product of faith grounded in love, which faith constitutes the Church. That ‘the ground’ means the Church, and therefore the faith which constitutes the Church, has been shown already in 566.

AC (Elliott) n. 1425 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1425. Verse 4 And Abram went, as Jehovah had told him; and Lot went with him. And Abram was a son of seventy-five years when he went out of Haran.

As has been stated, ‘Abram’ represents the Lord as regards His Human Essence. ‘And Abram went, as Jehovah had told him’ means an advance towards Divine things. ‘And Lot went with him’ means sensory perception -‘Lot’ representing the Lord as regards His sensory and bodily man. ‘And Abram was a son of seventy-five years’ means that as yet there was not so much of the Divine. ‘When he went out of Haran’ means an obscure state which the Lord was experiencing.

AC (Elliott) n. 1426 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1426. That ‘Abram’ represents the Lord as regards His Human Essence is clear from all that has been said concerning Abram. Later on He represents Him both as regards the Human Essence and as regards the Divine Essence, though by then he is called Abraham. The things stated in verse I and down to the present verse represent and mean a first awareness that He was taking to Himself celestial and thus Divine things. Advances of His Human Essence closer to His Divine Essence begin here.

AC (Elliott) n. 1427 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1427. ‘And Abram went, as Jehovah had told him’ means an advance towards Divine things. This is clear from what has just been stated.

AC (Elliott) n. 1428 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1428. ‘And Lot went with him’ means sensory perception. That ‘Lot’ represents the Lord as regards His sensory and bodily man becomes clear from the representation of ‘Lot’ in what follows, where his being separated from Abram and being saved by angels is described. Later on however, once the separation had taken place, Lot takes on another representation, which will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be dealt with later on. It is clear that the Lord was born like any other, though from a woman who was a virgin, and that He had sensory perception and bodily desires like any other, but that He differed from any other in that sensory perception and bodily desires were eventually united to celestial things and made Divine. The Lord’s actual sensory perception and bodily desires are represented by Lot, or what amounts to the same, His sensory and bodily man as it was during His state of childhood and not as it became once it had been united to the Divine by means of celestial things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1429 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1429. ‘Abram was a son of seventy-five years’ means that as yet there was not so much of the Divine. This becomes clear from the meaning of the number ‘five’ as that which is small, and of the number ‘seventy’ as that which is holy. That ‘five’ means that which is small has been shown already in 649, and that ‘seventy’ or ‘sever’ that which is holy in 395, 433, 716, 881. Here, since seventy is used in reference to the Lord, it means that which is Divine and holy. Furthermore that the numbers* giving Abram’s years have a different meaning in the internal sense may become clear from what has been stated and shown already about years and numbers in 482, 487, 493, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, and from the fact that not one tiny expression or part of a letter exists in the Word that does not carry an internal sense. And unless it embodied things that are spiritual and celestial no mention would ever have been made of Abram’s being at that time ‘a son of seventy-five years’, or of this event taking place when he was that age, as is also clear from other numbers, both of years and of quantities, that are given in the Word.
* i.e. the numbers 5 and 70 In the Latin and in the Hebrew the words are literally Abram was a son of five years and seventy years.

AC (Elliott) n. 1430 sRef Gen@12 @4 S0′ 1430. ‘When he went out of Haran’ means an obscure state which the Lord was experiencing like that of man’s childhood. This becomes clear from the meaning of Haran in the previous chapter, the place to which Terah came first together with Abram, and where Terah, Abram’s father, died, 11:31, 32, and also from references further on to Jacob’s going to Haran where Laban lived, Gen. 27:43; 28:10; 29:4. Haran was a region where external worship prevailed, which in fact in the case of Terah, Abram, and Laban, was idolatrous worship. But the internal sense does not carry the meaning which is present in the external sense, only the meaning that a certain obscurity existed. As one passes from the external sense into the internal the idea of idolatry does not remain but is completely removed. It is similar to when the idea of holy love is gained from ‘a mountain’, see 795 – as one passes from the external sense into the internal sense the idea of a mountain first of all perishes, but the idea of height remains; and by height holiness is represented. The same applies to everything else in the external sense and its meaning in the internal sense

AC (Elliott) n. 1431 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1431. Verse 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their acquisitions that they had acquired, and [every] soul which they had gained in Haran. And they came out to go into the land of Canaan; and they came into the land of Canaan.

‘And Abram took Sarai his wife’ means good to which truth has been joined, ‘Abram’, as stated, being used to mean the Lord – here when He was a boy – and ‘Sarai his wife’ to mean truth. ‘And Lot his brother’s son’ means truth that has been learned through the senses, thus the first that is implanted in childhood. ‘And all the acquisitions that they had acquired’ means all truths that have been learned through the senses. ‘And [every] soul which they had gained in Haran’ means every essential with life in it that was possible in that obscure state. ‘And they came out to go into the land of Canaan’ means that in this manner He drew closer to the celestial things of love. ‘And they came into the land of Canaan’ means that He attained to the celestial things of love.

AC (Elliott) n. 1432 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1432. That ‘Abram took Sarai his wife’ means good to which truth has been joined becomes clear from what is meant in the Word by ‘a man (homo) and his wife’, dealt with in 915. Thus by ‘Sarai’ here is meant nothing else in the internal sense than truth. With man there exists in every single part the likeness of a marriage; nor can anything possibly exist which is too small to have that likeness within it – both in the external man in every part, and in the internal man in every part. The reason for this is that every single thing comes into being and is kept in being from the Lord, and from the marriage – like union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence, and from the conjunction or heavenly marriage of both Essences with His kingdom in heaven and on earth. Here, when truth that had been joined to the Lord’s good was to be represented, that truth could not be represented – since the historical details here have regard to Abram – in any other way than by ‘a wife’. For the truth that a likeness of a marriage resides in every single thing, see what has appeared already in 54, 55, 718, 747, 917.

AC (Elliott) n. 1433 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1433. That ‘Abram’ is used to mean the Lord, here when He was a boy, and ‘Sarai his wife’ to mean truth, is clear from what has been stated already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1434 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1434. ‘And Lot his brother’s son’ means truth that has been learned through the senses, thus the first that was implanted in the Lord in childhood. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Lot’, dealt with in the previous verse, as sensory perception, and from the meaning of ‘son’ as truth, dealt with already in 264, 489, 491, 533; and also from the meaning of ‘brother’ too as the truth of faith, 367. Thus it is truth learned through the senses that is meant here, for in the internal sense no attention is paid to the representative persons or expressions, only to the meanings which these carry within them. In heaven they do not know who ‘Lot’ is, only the characteristic represented by him. Nor do they know what ‘son’ is, only the spiritual state which relatively is like a son. Nor do they know what ‘brother’ is except from the kind of brotherhood that exists in heaven. As regards truth learned through the senses, it is the first truth to implant itself, for in childhood the power of judgement does not go any higher than the senses. Truth learned through the senses consists in seeing all earthly and worldly things as having been created by God, in seeing every single thing as having a purpose, and in seeing in every single one some likeness of the kingdom of God. Such truth is implanted in none but the celestial man, and since the Lord alone was a celestial man, these and similar truths acquired through the senses were implanted in Him in earliest childhood. In this way He was made ready to receive celestial things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1435 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1435. ‘And all the acquisitions that they had acquired’ means all truths that have been learned through the senses. This is clear from what has been stated already. Every fact from which a person thinks is called ‘an acquisition’. Until he has acquired such facts nobody can as a human being possess a single idea comprising thought. Such ideas are based on sensory impressions contained in the memory. Facts therefore are the vessels for spiritual things, while affections that are the product of bodily pleasures that are good are the vessels for celestial things. All of these are called ‘acquisitions’, and indeed those acquired ‘in Haran’, by which is meant an obscure state like that of infancy through to childhood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1436 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1436. ‘And [every] soul which they had gained in Haran’ means every essential with life in it that was possible in that obscure state. This is clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ as an essential that has life in it, and from the meaning of ‘Haran’ as an obscure state, dealt with in the previous verse. ‘Soul’ in the proper sense means that with man which possesses life, and so his life itself. That in man which has life in it is not the body but the soul, and it is through the soul that the body receives life. The life itself in man, that is, that which has life, is derived from heavenly love; nothing with life in it is possible if that love is not the source of it. This explains why ‘soul’ here means the good which derives its life from heavenly love, this good being the fundamental essential that has life in it. In the literal sense ‘soul’ is used here to mean every human being, and also all the livestock, and which they had acquired to themselves; but in the internal sense nothing else is meant than [every] essential with life in it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1437 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1437. ‘They came out to go into the land of Canaan’ means that in this manner He drew closer to the celestial things of love. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the land of Canaan’. That ‘the land of Canaan’ represents the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth becomes clear from many things in the Word. The reason it does so is that the representative Church was established in that land, a Church in which every single thing represented the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom. This applied not only to religious observances but also to everything associated with those observances – to both the persons who ministered and to the things they administered, and even to the places where the ministrations took place because the representative Church was centred there the land was consequently called ‘the Holy Land’, even though it was anything but holy, seeing that idolaters and profaners inhabited it. This then is the reason why ‘the land of Canaan’ here and in what follows means the celestial things of love Indeed the celestial things of love, these alone, exist in the Lord’s kingdom and constitute that kingdom

AC (Elliott) n. 1438 sRef Gen@12 @5 S0′ 1438. ‘And they came into the land of Canaan’ means that He attained to the celestial things of love. This is clear from what has just been stated about the land of Canaan. Here the Lord’s life at first is described, that is to say, from birth to childhood, during which period He attained to the celestial things of love. The celestial things of love are the essentials themselves, and everything else comes from these. It was with celestial things that He was endowed first of all, for it was from these as from its seed that all else was then made fruitful. With Him the seed itself was celestial, for He was born from Jehovah, and therefore He alone has had that seed within Himself. All others, without exception, have no other seed than what is filthy and of hell, in which their proprium consists and from which it is derived; and this comes with that which is inherited from the father, as is well known to everyone. Consequently unless they receive from the Lord a new seed and a new proprium, that is, a new will and a new understanding, they are inevitably consigned to hell, a place from which all, not only men but also spirits and angels, are being pulled out and constantly withheld by the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1439 sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ 1439. Verse 6 And Abram went through the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak-grove of Moreh. And the Canaanite was at that time in the land.

‘Abram went through the land as far as the place of Shechem’ means the Lord’s second state, when the celestial things of love, which are meant by Shechem, became apparent to Him. ‘As far as the oak-grove of Moreh’ means a third state, namely a first perception, which is ‘the oak-grove of Moreh’. ‘And the Canaanite was at that time in the land’ means the hereditary evil from the mother, in His external man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1440 sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ 1440. ‘Abram went through the land as far as the place of Shechem’ means the Lord’s second state, when the celestial things of love became apparent to Him. This becomes clear from what has gone before and from the whole sequence of events in what has gone before, that He drew closer to and attained to the celestial things of love, meant by ‘they came out to go into the land of Canaan’ and by ‘they came into the land of Canaan’; from the whole sequence of events, that after He had drawn closer to and attained to celestial things, these at that point became apparent to Him. Celestial things have the very light of the soul within them, because they have the Divine itself, that is, Jehovah Himself, within them. And because the Lord was to join the Human Essence to the Divine Essence when He attained to celestial things, it was inevitable that Jehovah should appear to Him.

AC (Elliott) n. 1441 sRef Gen@33 @17 S0′ sRef Gen@33 @20 S0′ sRef Ps@60 @6 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ sRef Gen@33 @18 S0′ sRef Gen@33 @19 S0′ sRef Ps@60 @8 S0′ sRef Ps@108 @9 S0′ sRef Ps@108 @7 S0′ sRef Ps@108 @8 S0′ sRef Ps@60 @7 S0′ 1441. That these things are meant by ‘Shechem’ becomes clear also from the fact that Shechem is so to speak the first stopping-place in the land of Canaan that one comes to when journeying from Syria, or Haran. And since ‘the land of Canaan’ means the celestial things of love it is clear that ‘Shechem’ means the first stage in the appearance of celestial things. When Jacob returned from Haran to the land of Canaan he likewise came to Shechem, as becomes clear from the following,

Jacob travelled on to Succoth and built a house for himself, and made shelters* for his cattle; therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-Aram; and he camped before the city. And he set up an altar there. Gen. 33:17-20.

Here also ‘Shechem’ means the first appearance of light. In David,

God has spoken in His holiness, I will exult, I will divide up Shechem and portion out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; and Ephraim is the strength of My head, Judah is My lawgiver, Moab is My washbasin, upon Edom I will cast My shoe, over Philistia I will make a loud noise. Ps. 60:6, 8; 108:7, 9.

Here also ‘Shechem’ has a similar meaning. That names, including Shechem therefore, mean nothing other than real things becomes quite clear from these prophetic utterances of David. Otherwise they would be scarcely more than a heap of names. References to Shechem becoming a city of refuge, Josh. 20:7, and also a priestly city, Josh. 21:21, and a place where the covenant was made, Josh. 24:1, 25, also embody the same.
* lit. tents

AC (Elliott) n. 1442 sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ 1442. ‘As far as the oak-grove of Moreh’ means a first perception. This too becomes clear from the sequence of events. It is clear that as soon as Jehovah appeared to the Lord in His celestial things the Lord had attained perception. Celestial things are the source of all perception. What perception is has been stated and shown already in 104, 202, 371, 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 865. When anyone attains to celestial things he acquires perception from the Lord. All who have become celestial people, such as members of the Most Ancient Church, have acquired perception, as shown already in 125, 597, 607, 784, 895. All who become spiritual people, however, that is, who acquire charity from the Lord, have something akin to perception, namely the voice of conscience, strong or weak, in the measure that the celestial things of charity exist with such persons. This is how it is with the celestial things of charity, for it is in these alone that the Lord is present, and in these that He manifests Himself to man. How much more must this have applied to the Lord, who from infancy moved closer to Jehovah, and was joined and united to Him so that they were one?

AC (Elliott) n. 1443 sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ sRef Deut@11 @30 S0′ sRef Deut@11 @29 S0′ 1443. The implications of a first perception being meant by ‘the oak-grove of Moreh’ are as follows: Residing with man there are intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and factual knowledge. The intellectual concepts form the inmost parts of his mind, the rational concepts form the interior parts, and the factual knowledge forms the exterior parts. They are called his spiritual endowments, which occur in the order in which they have been mentioned. The intellectual concepts of the celestial man are compared to ‘a garden consisting of trees of every kind’; rational concepts to ‘a forest consisting of cedars and other trees like them’, such as those that grow in Lebanon; while factual knowledge is compared to ‘oak-groves’ on account of the interlocking boughs that are a feature of oak trees. The trees themselves meant perceptions – ‘the trees of the garden of Eden in the east’ meant inmost perceptions, that is, those of intellectual concepts, as shown already in 99, 100, 103; ‘the trees of the forest of Lebanon’ meant interior perceptions, that is, those of rational concepts, whereas ‘oak trees’ meant exterior perceptions, that is, those of facts that belong to the external man. This explains why ‘the oak- grove of Moreh’ means the Lord’s first perception, for He was still only a boy and His spiritual powers had not yet developed interiorly. In addition the oak-grove of Moreh was also the place which the children of Israel came to first when they crossed the Jordan and saw the land of Canaan. Of this it is said in Moses,

You shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are not these across the Jordan, beyond the road towards the seeing of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the plain towards Gilgal, beside the oak-groves of Moreh? Deut 11:29, 30.

These words as well mean the first experience of perception, for the entry of the children of Israel represents the entry of those who have faith into the Lord’s kingdom.

AC (Elliott) n. 1444 sRef Gen@12 @6 S0′ 1444. ‘And the Canaanite was at that time in the land’ means the hereditary evil from the mother, in His external man. This becomes clear from what has been stated already about the Lord’s heredity; for He was born as any other is born and from the mother acquired evils which He fought against and overcame. It is well known that the Lord underwent and endured very severe temptations – which will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be described further on – temptations so great in fact that He fought by Himself and from His own power against the whole of hell. Nobody can undergo temptation unless he has evil clinging to him. The person who has no evil cannot experience the smallest temptation, for it is evil that spirits from hell stir up.

[2] With the Lord no evil of His own doing or that was His own was present, as there is with all human beings, only hereditary evil from the mother, which is here called ‘the Canaanite at that time in the land’. For this matter see what has been stated above in verse 1, in 1414, to the effect that people are born with two heredities in them, the first from the father, the second from the mother. What comes from the father remains for ever, but what comes from the mother is dispelled by the Lord when the person is being regenerated. The Lord’s heredity from His Father however was Divine, while the heredity from the mother was the hereditary evil referred to here, through which He underwent temptations. Regarding His temptations, see Mark 1:12, 13; Matt. 4:1; Luke 4:1, 2. But, as has been stated, He had no evil of His own doing or which was His own, nor did He have any hereditary evil from the mother after He had overcome hell by means of temptations. It is for this reason that the expression at that time occurs here, that is to say, ‘the Canaanite was at that time in the land’.

sRef Zech@14 @21 S3′ [3] The Canaanites were people who dwelt by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan, as is clear in Moses,

The spies returned and said, We came into the land to which you sent us, and it is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people dwelling in the land are powerful and the cities are very strongly fortified, and also we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekite dwells in the south, and the Hittite, Jebusite, and Amorite dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanite dwells by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan. Num. 13:27-29.

‘The Canaanite dwelt by the sea and by the bank of the Jordan’ meant evil consequently residing with the external man, such as that acquired by heredity from the mother, for the sea and the Jordan were boundaries.

aRef Ex@33 @2 S4′ aRef Ex@34 @11 S4′ aRef Ex@23 @28 S4′ aRef Ex@23 @23 S4′ [4] That this kind of evil is meant by ‘the Canaanite’ is clear also in Zechariah,

And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Jehovah Zebaoth on that day. Zech. 14:21.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom. It means that the Lord overcame the evil meant by ‘the Canaanite’ and drove it out of His kingdom. Evils of every kind are meant by the idolatrous nations in the land of Canaan, among which were the Canaanites, Gen. 15:19-21; Exod. 3:8, 17; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Deut. 7:1; 20:17; Josh. 3:10; 24:11; Judg. 3:5. Which evil is meant by each nation specifically will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be stated elsewhere.

AC (Elliott) n. 1445 sRef Gen@12 @7 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @7 S0′ 1445. Verse 7 And Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, To your seed will I give this land; and there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him.

‘Jehovah appeared to Abram’ means that Jehovah showed Himself to the Lord when He was still a boy. ‘And He said, To your seed will I give this land’ means that celestial things would be granted to those who had faith in Him. ‘And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him’ means initial worship of His Father from the celestial, which essentially is love.

AC (Elliott) n. 1446 sRef Gen@12 @7 S0′ 1446. That ‘Jehovah appeared to Abram’ means that Jehovah showed Himself to the Lord when He was still a boy is clear from what has gone before, and from the representation itself of the Lord by Abram, as well as from the sequence of events, which are that He came into possession of celestial things, and then of perception, following which ‘Jehovah appeared’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1447 sRef Gen@12 @7 S0′ 1447. That ‘He said, To your seed will I give this land’ means that celestial things would be granted to those who had faith in Him is clear from the meaning of ‘land’ and from the meaning of ‘land’. That ‘seed’ means faith in the Lord has been shown already in 255, 256, and that ‘land’ means celestial things has also been shown above at verse 1 of this chapter, and in 620, 636, 662, 1066. In the sense of the fetter ‘the seed of Abram’ is used to mean descendants through Jacob, and ‘land’ the land of Canaan itself which was to be given to them as a possession, for the reason that they might represent the celestial and spiritual things of the Lord’s kingdom and Church and that among them a representative Church might be established, and because the Lord was to be born in that land. But in the internal sense nothing else is meant by ‘seed’ then faith in the Lord, and by ‘land’ nothing else than celestial things, and here in particular that celestial things were to be granted to those who had faith in Him. What is meant by having faith in the Lord has been stated many times already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1448 sRef Gen@12 @7 S0′ 1448. ‘And there he built an altar to Jehovah who had appeared to him’ means initial worship of His Father from the celestial, which essentially is love. This is clear from the meaning of ‘an altar’ as the chief representative in worship, 921.

AC (Elliott) n. 1449 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1449. Verse 8 And he removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east.* And there he built an altar to Jehovah and called on the name of Jehovah.

‘He removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel’ means the Lord’s fourth state when He was a boy, that is to say, ‘being removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel’ means an advance made in the celestial things of love. ‘And he pitched his tent’ means the holy things of faith. ‘Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east,* means that His state was still obscure. ‘And he built an altar to Jehovah’ means external worship of His Father arising out of that state. ‘And he called on the name of Jehovah’ means internal worship of His Father arising out of that state.
* lit. Bethel from the sea (an idiom for from the west) and Ai from the east

AC (Elliott) n. 1450 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1450. ‘He removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel’ means the Lord’s fourth state when He was a boy. This becomes clear from what comes before and after, thus also from the train of thought itself, namely this: The Lord had first of all to be endowed from infancy with the celestial things of love – the celestial things of love consisting in love towards Jehovah and love towards the neighbour, and in innocence itself present in those loves. From these, as from the very sources of life, flows every single thing, for all other things are simply derivatives. These celestial things are implanted in a person chiefly in the state of infancy through to childhood, and in fact independently of cognitions; for they flow in from the Lord and stir that person with affection before he knows what love is or what affection is, as the infant state shows, and after that the state of early childhood. Those things with man are the ‘remnants’ that have been referred to several times which are implanted by the Lord and stored away for use in his later life. For these matters, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661. Since the Lord was born as any other is born, He too was introduced according to order into celestial things, step by step from infancy on into childhood, and after that into cognitions. These things as experienced by the Lord are described in the present verse, and represented in those that follow by Abram’s sojourning in Egypt.

AC (Elliott) n. 1451 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1451. ‘Being removed to the mountain on the east of Bethel means an advance made in the celestial things of love. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’ as that which is celestial, as shown in 795, 796; from the meaning of ‘the east’ as Jehovah Himself as regards love, who is the east itself, as has also been shown in 101 and elsewhere; and also from the meaning of ‘Bethel’ as knowledge of celestial things. Celestial things are implanted both independently of cognitions and together with cognitions. The implantation independently of cognitions occurs during infancy to childhood, as stated just above, whereas the implantation of them together with cognitions occurs after that, from childhood into adult life. And since the Lord was to advance into cognitions of celestial things, which are meant by ‘Bethel’, it is said here that ‘he removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1452 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1452. ‘And he pitched his tent’ means the holy things of faith. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a tent’ as the holiness of love, and consequently the holiness of faith deriving from love, as shown already in 414. His pitching his tent there means that this was now beginning.

AC (Elliott) n. 1453 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1453. As regards ‘Bethel being towards the sea and Ai towards the east,*’ meaning that His state was still obscure, that is to say, so far as cognitions of celestial and spiritual things were concerned, it is one thing to be governed by celestial things, another to be governed by the cognitions of celestial things. Infants and children are governed, more so than adults, by celestial things because of the presence in them of love towards their parents and of love for one another, as well as of innocence. But adults are governed, more so than infants and children, by the cognitions of those celestial things, very many adults not being governed at all by the celestial things of love. Until a person is taught the things of love and faith, he dwells in an obscure state, that is, so far as cognitions are concerned. That state is described here by the statement ‘Bethel’ was ‘towards the sea’, that is, ‘towards the west’, and ‘Ai towards the east’ ‘Bethel’, as stated already, means cognitions of celestial things, but ‘Ai’ the cognitions of worldly things. The former are said to be ‘towards the west’ when they are in obscurity, for in the Word ‘the west’ means that which is obscure, while the latter are said to be ‘towards the east’ when they are in brightness; for in comparison with the west the east is brightness. There is no need to confirm that west and east have these meanings, as they may be evident to anyone without confirmation.

sRef Gen@13 @3 S2′ sRef Gen@28 @19 S2′ sRef Gen@13 @4 S2′ sRef Gen@35 @1 S2′ [2] That ‘Bethel’ means the cognitions of celestial things however may become clear from other places where Bethel is mentioned in the Word, as in the next chapter,

Abram went according to his journeys from the south even to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the start, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar that he had made there. Gen. 13:3, 4.

Here ‘according to his journeys from the south towards Bethel’ means advancing into the light of cognitions, and this is why no reference is made in this case to ‘Bethel towards the west and Ai towards the east’. When Jacob saw the stairway he said,

This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And he called the name of this place Bethel. Gen. 28:17, 19.

Here similarly ‘Bethel’ means knowledge of celestial things, for a person is a ‘Bethel’, that is, a ‘House of God’, and a ‘Gate of heaven’, when he is governed by the celestial things that have been present as cognitions. While a person is being regenerated he is undergoing introduction, which is effected by means of cognitions of spiritual and celestial things; but once he has been regenerated that introduction has been completed, and he is now governed by the celestial and spiritual things that have been present as cognitions. Further on it is said,

God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there; make there an altar to the God who appeared to you. Gen. 35:1, 6, 7.

sRef 2Ki@17 @28 S3′ sRef 2Ki@17 @27 S3′ sRef Amos@7 @12 S3′ sRef Judg@20 @18 S3′ sRef Judg@20 @26 S3′ sRef Amos@7 @13 S3′ sRef Gen@28 @17 S3′ sRef Judg@20 @27 S3′ [3] Here similarly ‘Bethel’ means cognitions.

The presence of the Ark of Jehovah in Bethel, and the visits to that place by the children of Israel to inquire of Jehovah, Judg. 20:18, 26, 27; Sam. 7:16; 10:3, have similar meanings. So also has the reference to the king of Assyria sending one of the priests whom he had deported from Samaria, who resided in Bethel and was teaching them how to fear Jehovah, 2 Kings 17:27, 28. In Amos,

Amaziah said to Amos, O seer, go, flee to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there. And do not prophesy any more in Bethel, for this is the king’s sanctuary and this is a house of the kingdom. Amos 7:12, 13.

[4] After Jeroboam had profaned Bethel, 1 Kings 12:32; 13:1-8; 2 Kings 23:15, Bethel had a contrary representation, as in Hosea 10:15; Amos 3:14, 15; 5:5-7. As regards ‘Ai’ meaning cognitions of worldly things however this too may be confirmed from historical and prophetical parts of the Word, in Josh. 7:2; 8:1-28; Jer. 49:3, 4.
* lit. Bethel from the sea (an idiom for from the west) and Ai from the east

AC (Elliott) n. 1454 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1454. ‘And he built an altar to Jehovah’ means external worship of His Father arising out of that state. This is clear from the meaning of ‘an alter’ as the chief representative in worship, 921.

AC (Elliott) n. 1455 sRef Gen@12 @8 S0′ 1455. ‘And he called on the name of Jehovah’ means internal worship of His Father arising out of that state. This is clear from the meaning of ‘calling on the name of Jehovah’, 440. That external worship is meant by ‘building an altar to Jehovah’, and internal worship by ‘calling on the name of Jehovah’, may become clear to anyone.

AC (Elliott) n. 1456 sRef Gen@12 @9 S0′ 1456. Verse 9 And Abram travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south.

‘Abram travelled, going on and travelling’ means further advance. ‘Towards the south’ means into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interior things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1457 sRef Luke@2 @40 S0′ sRef Luke@2 @46 S0′ sRef Luke@2 @48 S0′ sRef Luke@2 @52 S0′ sRef Luke@2 @47 S0′ sRef Luke@1 @80 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @9 S0′ sRef Luke@2 @49 S0′ 1457. That ‘Abram travelled, going on and travelling’ means further advance becomes clear from the meaning of ‘going on and travelling’. Among the ancients, journeys, travels, and sojournings had no other meaning, and therefore in the internal sense have no other meaning in the Word. The Lord’s advances forward into cognitions begin here. That the Lord also was taught like any other child is made clear in Luke,

The young child* grew and became strong in spirit; he was in desert places till the day of His manifestation to Israel. Luke 1:80.

In the same gospel,

The child grew and became strong in spirit, and was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40.

In the same gospel,

Joseph and Jesus’ mother after three days found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and answers. When they saw Him they were astonished, but He said to them, How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be in those things that are My Father’s?** Luke 2:46 49.

He was at that time twelve years old, Luke 2:42. In the same gospel, Jesus advanced in wisdom and in years,*** and in grace with God and men. Luke 2:52.
* In the literal sense this verse refers to John the Baptist; but see 1927 and 5620.
** In those things that are My Father’s’ is a very literal rendering of the Latin, which renders the Greek quite literally.
*** lit. age

AC (Elliott) n. 1458 sRef Gen@12 @9 S0′ 1458. ‘Towards the south’ means into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interior things. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the south’. That ‘the south’ means a state that is bright arises from the fact that the four quarters, as with periods of time, do not actually exist in the next life, only the states meant by the four quarters and periods of time. The successive states of ideas in the understanding are like the states that belong to the times of the day and to the seasons of the year, and also to those of the four quarters. The successive states of a day are evening, night, morning, and midday; the states of the year are autumn, winter, spring, and summer; and the states of the four quarters are those of the sun in relation to west, north, east, and south. Similar to these are the successive states of ideas in the understanding. And what is remarkable, in heaven those whose state is one of wisdom and intelligence are in light. The intensity of that light is in exact proportion to their state, with those in the greatest light whose state is one of highest wisdom and intelligence; but the wisdom there is that which goes with love and charity, and the intelligence that which goes with faith in the Lord. That there is light in the next life to which the light of the world scarcely stands comparison is to me evident from much experience, and this will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be presented later on. And because there exists in heaven such a correspondence between light and things of the understanding, nothing else is meant in the internal sense here and elsewhere in the Word by ‘the south’. Here ‘the south’ means intelligence acquired through cognitions. Cognitions are celestial and spiritual truths, which are just so many radiations of light in heaven and which present themselves visibly by means of the light, as has been stated. Because the Lord was now to be endowed with cognitions so that He might become the Light itself of heaven as regards His Human Essence as well, it is here said that ‘he travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south’.

sRef Isa@58 @10 S2′ sRef Isa@43 @6 S2′ [2] That ‘the south’ means those things becomes clear from similar examples in the Word, as in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isa. 43:6.

‘The north’ stands for those without knowledge, ‘the south’ for those who possess cognitions, ‘sons’ stands for truths, and ‘daughters’ for goods. In the same prophet,

If you bring food out of store for the hungry* and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as the noonday.** Isa. 58:10.

‘Bringing food out of store for the hungry and satisfying the afflicted soul’ stands for good deeds of charity in general. ‘Your light will rise in the darkness’ stands for the fact that truth has made them intelligent, and ‘your thick darkness will be as the noonday’** that good has made them wise. ‘The south’ means good by virtue of its warmth, and truth by virtue of its light.

sRef Ps@91 @5 S3′ sRef Ps@91 @6 S3′ sRef Ezek@40 @2 S3′ sRef Ezek@20 @47 S3′ sRef Ps@37 @6 S3′ sRef Ezek@20 @46 S3′ [3] In Ezekiel,

In the visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel and set me down on a very high mountain, on which there was so to speak the structure of a city on the south. Ezek. 40:2.

This refers to the new Jerusalem or the Lord’s kingdom, which because it is bathed in the light of wisdom and intelligence is ‘on the south’. In David,

Jehovah will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgement as the noonday.** Ps. 37:6.

In the same author,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence that walks in thick darkness, of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.** Ps. 91:5, 6

‘Not being afraid of the destruction that lays waste at noonday’** stands for not fearing the condemnation which comes upon those who possess cognitions but pervert them. In Ezekiel,

Son of man, set your face*** towards the south and drop [your words] to the south and prophesy towards the forest of the field in the south; and you shall say to the forest of the south, All faces in it from south to north will be scorched in it. Ezek. 20:46, 47

‘The forest of the south’ stands for those who possess the light of truths but extinguish it, and so stands for those within the Church who are such as these.

sRef Jer@13 @16 S4′ sRef Dan@8 @9 S4′ sRef Obad@1 @20 S4′ sRef Jer@13 @19 S4′ sRef Dan@8 @10 S4′ [4] In Daniel,

Out of one of them there came forth a little horn, and it grew much towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven. Dan. 8:9, 10.

This stands for people who assail goods and truths. In Jeremiah,

Give glory to Jehovah your God before He causes darkness and before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and you look for light and He turns it into the shadow of death and places it in thick darkness. The cities of the south will be shut up, with none opening them. Jer. 13:16, 19.

‘Cities of the south’ stands for cognitions of truth and good. In Obadiah,

Those carried away from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad will inherit the cities of the south. Obad. verse 20.

Here similarly ‘the cities of the south’ stands for truths and goods, and so for the truths and goods themselves to which they are heirs. The subject here is the Lord’s kingdom.

[5] As regards ‘Abram travelled, going on and travelling, towards the south’ meaning, as has been stated, the Lord’s advance into goods and truths, thus into a state that is bright as regards interiors, cognitions are what open up the path to seeing celestial and spiritual things. By means of cognitions a path is opened up from the internal man to the external man in which recipient vessels reside, as many as there are cognitions of good and truth. It is into the latter as their own particular vessels that celestial things flow.
* lit. bring out for the hungry your soul
** lit. the south
*** lit. faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1459 1459. Verse 10 And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine in the land was serious.

‘There was a famine in the land’ means a lack of cognitions which still existed with the Lord when He was a boy. ‘And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn’ means instruction in cognitions from the Word, ‘Egypt’ meaning knowledge comprised of cognitions, ‘sojourning’ receiving instruction. ‘For the famine in the land was serious’ means a great lack in His External Man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1460 1460. That ‘there was a famine in the land’ means a lack of cognitions which still existed with the Lord when He was a boy is clear from what has been stated already. In childhood the cognitions that reside with man never come from that which is interior but from the objects of the senses, most of all from hearing; for, as has been stated, with the external man there are recipient vessels which are called those of the memory. Those vessels, as anyone may know, are formed by means of cognitions, the internal man flowing in and assisting that formation. Consequently the learning of cognitions and their implantation in the memory take place in the measure that the internal man is flowing in. So also with the Lord when a boy, for He was born as any other and received instruction as any other. But in His case the interiors were celestial, which fashioned the vessels to receive cognitions, and after that these cognitions to become vessels for receiving the Divine. The interiors with Him were Divine, being from Jehovah His Father, but the exteriors were human, being from Mary His mother. From this it becomes clear that in childhood a lack of cognitions within His external man existed with the Lord as much as with all others.

sRef Jer@5 @12 S2′ sRef Isa@5 @13 S2′ sRef Isa@5 @12 S2′ sRef Jer@5 @13 S2′ [2] That ‘famine’ means a lack of cognitions is clear from elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah,

They do not look closely at the work of Jehovah, and they do not regard what His hands have done. Therefore My people will go into exile because they have no knowledge, and their honourable men will be famished,’ and their multitude parched with thirst. Isa. 5:12, 13.

‘Honourable men famished* stands for a lack of celestial cognitions, ‘multitude parched with thirst’ for a lack of spiritual cognitions. In Jeremiah,

They have lied against Jehovah and said, It is not He; and no evil will come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine. And the prophets will become wind, and the word is not in them. Jer. 5:12, 13.

‘Sword and famine’ stands for becoming robbed of cognitions of truth and good. ‘Prophets’ stands for those who teach, in whom ‘the word is not’. That ‘being consumed by sword and famine’ means becoming robbed of cognitions of truth and good, and that these have to do with vastation, ‘sword’ as to spiritual things, ‘famine’ as to celestial things, is clear from many parts of the Word, such as Jer. 14:13-16, 18; Lam. 4:9; and elsewhere.

sRef Ezek@34 @28 S3′ sRef Ezek@5 @16 S3′ sRef Ezek@34 @29 S3′ sRef Ps@105 @16 S3′ sRef Ps@107 @9 S3′ sRef Lam@2 @19 S3′ sRef Ezek@5 @17 S3′ [3] So also in Ezekiel,

I will bring more famine upon you, and will break for you the staff of bread; and I will send famine and evil beasts upon you, and they will rob you of your children. And I will bring the sword upon you. Ezek. 5:16, 17.

‘Famine’ stands for when one has been robbed of celestial cognitions, or cognitions of good, and therefore falsities and evils occur. In David,

And He summoned a famine over the land, He broke every staff of bread. Ps. 105:16.

‘Breaking the staff of bread’ stands for being deprived of celestial nourishment, for the life of good spirits and of angels is sustained by no other food than cognitions of good and truth, and by goods and truths themselves. This is the origin of the meaning in the internal sense of famine and bread. In the same author,

He has satisfied the longing soul, and the hungry soul He has filled with good. Ps. 107:9.

This stands for those desiring cognitions. In Jeremiah,

Lift up your hands for the soul of your little children who faint from famine at the head of every street. Lam 2:19.

‘Famine’ stands for an absence of cognitions, ‘streets’ for truths. In Ezekiel,

They will dwell securely and not be made afraid; and I shall raise up for them a plant for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land. Ezek. 34:28, 29.

This stands for their being deprived no longer of the cognitions of good and truth.

sRef Amos@8 @12 S4′ sRef Rev@7 @16 S4′ sRef Luke@1 @53 S4′ sRef John@6 @35 S4′ sRef Amos@8 @11 S4′ sRef Luke@6 @21 S4′ [4] In John,

They will not hunger any more, nor thirst any more. Rev. 7:16.

This refers to the Lord’s kingdom where they have an abundance of all celestial cognitions and goods, meant by ‘not hungering’, and of spiritual cognitions and truths, meant by ‘not thirsting’. The Lord said something similar, in John,

I am the Bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. John 6:35.

In Luke,

Blessed are you that hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Luke 6:21.

In the same gospel,

He has filled the hungry with good things. Luke 1:53.

This refers to celestial goods and the cognitions of these. In Amos there is a plain statement that ‘famine’ means the lack of cognitions,

Behold, the days are coming, when I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. Amos 8:11, 12.
* lit. their glory will be mortals of famine

AC (Elliott) n. 1461 1461. ‘And Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn’ means instruction in cognitions from the Word. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ and from the meaning of ‘sojourning’. That ‘Egypt’ means knowledge comprised of cognitions, and ‘sojourning’ receiving instruction, will be seen in what follows shortly. That the Lord received instruction in childhood as anybody else does is clear from those places in Luke quoted previously at verse 9 in 1457, and also from what has been stated just above concerning the external man, who cannot possibly be made to correspond and accord with the internal man except by means of cognitions. The external man is seated in the body and the senses, and does not receive anything celestial or spiritual unless cognitions are implanted in it as in the soil. Celestial things are able to utilize these as their own recipient vessels, but those cognitions must be from the Word. Cognitions from the Word are such as lie open from the Lord Himself, for the Word itself comes from the Lord by way of heaven, and the Lord’s life is present in every single detail of it, though this is not to be seen in the external form. From this it may become clear that in childhood the Lord wished to take in no other cognitions than those of the Word, which, as stated, was laid open to Him from Jehovah Himself, His Father, with whom He was to be united and become one. And that wish was even stronger for the reason that no statement occurs in the Word that does not inmostly have regard to Him and does not in the first place come from Him. For His Human Essence was purely an addition to His Divine Essence which existed from eternity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1462 1462. ‘Egypt’ means, in reference to the Lord, knowledge comprised of cognitions, but in reference to all others, knowledge in general. This becomes clear from the meaning of that country in the Word, dealt with already in several places, and specifically in 1164, 1165. Indeed the Ancient Church existed in Egypt, as it did in many other places, 1238, and while the Church was in that region all kinds of knowledge flourished there more than anything else; and this explains why ‘Egypt’ came to mean knowledge. But after those people desired to penetrate the mysteries of faith by means of all this knowledge, and so to inquire into the truth of Divine arcana from their own power, Egypt became a place of magic, and so came to mean factual knowledge which perverts, and which gives rise to falsities and derivative evils, as is clear in Isaiah 19:11.

sRef Isa@19 @13 S2′ sRef Isa@19 @20 S2′ sRef Isa@19 @19 S2′ sRef Isa@19 @18 S2′ sRef Isa@19 @22 S2′ sRef Isa@19 @21 S2′ [2] That ‘Egypt’ means all kinds of knowledge that serve a use, thus at this point knowledge comprised of cognitions which is able to serve as vessels for celestial and spiritual things, becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

They have led Egypt astray, the corner-stone of the tribes. Isa. 19:13.

Here it is called ‘the corner-stone of the tribes’, which was to serve as the base on which the things of faith meant by ‘the tribes’ were to rest. In the same prophet,

On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak in the lip of Canaan and swear to Jehovah Zebaoth. Each will be called Ir Heres. On that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at its border to Jehovah; and it will be a sign and a witness to Jehovah Zebaoth in the land of Egypt, for they will cry to Jehovah because of the oppressors, and He will send a savior and a prince to them, and he will deliver them. And Jehovah will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know Jehovah on that day and will offer sacrifice and minchah, and will make vows to Jehovah and perform them. And Jehovah will smite Egypt, smiting and healing, and they will return to Jehovah; and He will be entreated by them, and He will heal them. Isa. 19:18-22.

Used in a good sense here, ‘Egypt’ stands for people who possess facts, or natural truths, which are the vessels for spiritual truths.

sRef Isa@19 @25 S3′ sRef Isa@19 @23 S3′ sRef Isa@19 @24 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Asshur will come into Egypt and Egypt into Asshur, and the Egyptians will serve Asshur.* On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom Jehovah Zebaoth will bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Asshur the work of My hands, and Israel My heritage. Isa. 19:23-25.

Here ‘Egypt’ means knowledge consisting of natural truths, ‘Asshur’ reason or rational things, and ‘Israel’ spiritual things, which follow one another in that order. Hence the statement that ‘on that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Asshur, and Israel will be the third with Egypt and Asshur’.

sRef Ezek@27 @7 S4′ sRef Ezek@29 @14 S4′ sRef Zech@14 @18 S4′ sRef Ezek@29 @13 S4′ sRef Zech@14 @17 S4′ [4] In Ezekiel,

Fine linen with embroidered work from Egypt was your sail, that it might be to you an ensign. Ezek. 27:7.

This refers to Tyre, which means the possession of cognitions. ‘Fine linen with embroidered work’ stands for the truths contained in all kinds of knowledge which are of service; belonging as they do to the external man facts ought to be of service to the internal man. In the same prophet,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, At the end of forty years I will gather Egypt from the peoples among whom they were scattered, and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt. Ezek. 29:13, 14.

Here also ‘Egypt’ has much the same meaning, as is also said of Judah and Israel in many other places that they were to be gathered from the peoples and brought back from captivity. In Zechariah,

And it will be that whoever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Jehovah Zebaoth, there will be no rain upon them And if the family of Egypt does not go up, and does not come . . . Zech. 14:17, 18.

Here also ‘Egypt’ is used in a good sense to have a similar meaning.

sRef 1Ki@4 @30 S5′ [5] That knowledge or human wisdom is meant by ‘Egypt’ becomes clear also in Daniel 11:43 where knowledge of celestial and of spiritual things is called ‘the secret hoards of gold and silver’ and also ‘the precious things of Egypt’. And of Solomon it is said that his wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of the Egyptians, 1 Kings 4:30. And the house built by Solomon for Pharaoh’s daughter had no other representation, 1 Kings 7:8 and following verses.

sRef Matt@2 @13 S6′ sRef Matt@2 @14 S6′ sRef Matt@2 @15 S6′ sRef Hos@11 @1 S6′ [6] The Lord’s being taken into Egypt when He was an infant had no other meaning than that which here is meant by Abram, though He was also taken there so that He might fulfill all things that had taken place and were representative of Himself. The passage of Jacob and his sons down into Egypt represented in the inmost sense nothing other than the Lord’s initial instruction in cognitions from the Word, as is also evident from what follows. In reference to the Lord the following is said in Matthew,

The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Rise, take the boy and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be there until I tell you. He rose and took the boy and His mother by night, and departed into Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, so that what had been said by the prophet might be fulfilled, when he said, Out of Egypt have I called My son. Matt. 2:13-15, 19-21.

This promise is stated in Hosea as follows,

When Israel was a boy I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1.

From this it is clear that ‘the boy Israel’ is used to mean the Lord, His instruction when a boy being expressed by the words, ‘Out of Egypt have I called My son’.

sRef Ps@80 @7 S7′ sRef Hos@12 @13 S7′ sRef Hos@12 @12 S7′ sRef Ps@80 @8 S7′ [7] In the same prophet,

By a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt and by a prophet he was preserved. Hosea 12:12, 13.

Here similarly ‘Israel’ is used to mean the Lord. ‘A prophet’ means one who teaches, thus teaching consisting of cognitions. In David,

Turn us back, O God Zebaoth, cause Your face** to shine and we shall be saved. You caused a vine to set out from Egypt, You drove out the nations and planted it. Ps. 80:7, 8.

This too refers to the Lord, who is called ‘the vine out of Egypt’ as regards the cognitions in which He was receiving instruction.
* The Hebrew of his text in Isaiah may be read in two different ways – serve Asshur or serve with Asshur. Most English versions of Isaiah prefer the second of these.
** lit. Faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1463 1463. That ‘sojourning’ means receiving instruction becomes clear from the meaning in the Word of ‘sojourning’ as receiving instruction, and it has this meaning because sojourning and passing on, or moving from one place to another, is in heaven nothing else than a change of state, as shown already in 1376, 1379. Therefore every time travelling, sojourning, or transferring from one place to another occurs in the Word nothing else suggests itself to angels than a change of state such as takes place with them. There are changes of state both of thoughts and of affections. Changes of the state of thoughts are cognitions, which in the world of spirits are represented by means of forms of instruction. This also explains why members of the Most Ancient Church, having communication with the angelic heaven, did not perceive anything else by ‘sojourning’. Thus the statement here that ‘Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn’ does not mean anything other than the Lord’s being instructed.

sRef Ezek@47 @23 S2′ sRef Ezek@47 @22 S2′ sRef Ezek@47 @21 S2′ sRef Isa@52 @4 S2′ [2] Something similar is meant by Jacob and his sons going down into Egypt, as in Isaiah,

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, My people went down to Egypt at first to sojourn there, and Asshur oppressed them without cause. Isa. 52:4.

Here ‘Asshur’ stands for reasonings. This is also why in the Jewish Church people who were receiving instruction were called ‘sojourners, sojourning in their midst’ who, it was commanded, were to receive the same treatment as the native-born, Exod. 12:48, 49; Lev. 24:22; Num. 15:13-16, 26, 29; 19:10. Regarding sojourners it is said in Ezekiel,

You shall divide this land among you according to the tribes of Israel. You shall divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves and for sojourners, sojourning in your midst. They shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel, they shall cast lots with you for an inheritance in the midst of the tribes of Israel. In the tribe with which the sojourner has sojourned, there shall you give him his inheritance. Ezek. 47:21-23.

This refers to the new Jerusalem, or the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Sojourners sojourning’ is used to mean people who allow themselves to receive instruction, consequently the gentiles. That ‘sojourners’ stands for people who are receiving instruction is clear from the fact that it is said ‘in the tribe with which he has sojourned, there shall an inheritance be given him’. ‘Tribes’ stands for the things that constitute faith.

sRef Gen@47 @9 S3′ [3] ‘Sojourning’ is also similar in meaning to travelling and dwelling. ‘Travelling’ means the established patterns and order of life, while ‘dwelling’ means living, both dealt with already in 1293. For the same reasons the land of Canaan is also called ‘the land of the sojournings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’, in Gen. 28:4; 36:7; 37:1; Exod 6:4. And Jacob said to Pharaoh,

The days of the years of my sojournings; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojournings. Gen. 47:9.

Here ‘sojourning’ stands for life and for forms of instruction.

AC (Elliott) n. 1464 1464. ‘For the famine in the land was serious’ means a great lack in His External Man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘famine’ as presented above in this verse. The arcana contained here are more than can be enumerated briefly. The Lord’s ability to learn was superior to that of any other person, but because He was to receive instruction in celestial things before doing so in spiritual things, unlike others, reference is made to this point here. A further reason for such a reference is that there was hereditary evil from the mother in His External Man which He was to fight against and to overcome. And there are countless other considerations besides these.

AC (Elliott) n. 1465 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1465. Verse 11 And it happened, when he drew near to come into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon.

‘And it happened, when he drew near to come into Egypt’ means when He started to learn, ‘Egypt’, as has been stated, meaning knowledge comprised of cognitions. ‘That he said to Sarai his wife’ means that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied, ‘Sarai his wife’ meaning truth allied to the celestial things that resided with the Lord. ‘Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon’ means that truth from a celestial origin is delightful.

AC (Elliott) n. 1466 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1466. ‘And it happened, when he drew near to come into Egypt’ means when He started to learn. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ as knowledge comprised of cognitions. When the expression ‘draw near’ is used with reference to this it cannot have any other meaning.

AC (Elliott) n. 1467 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1467. That ‘Egypt’ means knowledge comprised of cognitions is clear from what has been stated and shown at the previous verse regarding Egypt.

AC (Elliott) n. 1468 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1468. ‘That he said to Sarai his wife’ means that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Sarai’ when she is called ‘a wife’. In the internal sense of the Word ‘a wife’ means nothing other than truth joined to good, for truth joined to good is altogether like a marriage. When the noun ‘husband’ (maritus) is used in the Word it means good and ‘wife’ means truth. But when instead of this another noun for ‘husband’ (vir) is used, it in that case means truth, and ‘wife’ means good; and this is a consistent usage in the Word, as also stated already in 915. Since ‘Abram’ has been mentioned by name in this passage, ‘Sarai his wife’ means truth. Thus the meaning of ‘he said to Sarai his wife’ is in the internal sense that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied. It is true historically that when he travelled into Egypt Abram spoke to his wife in this way; but, as has been stated, all the historical events recorded in the Word are representative and every word carries a spiritual meaning. No other historical details have been brought in, and those that have are not presented in any other sequence, nor expressed in any other words than such as in the internal sense may express these arcana.

AC (Elliott) n. 1469 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1469. That ‘Sarai his wife’ is truth allied to the celestial things that resided with the Lord is clear from what has just been stated about the meaning of ‘Sarai his wife’. The reason for the expression ‘truth allied to celestial things’ is that all truth resided with the Lord already. That which is celestial has truth with it, one being as inseparable from the other as light from flame. Such truth however was stored away in His Internal Man, which was Divine. The facts and cognitions which He learned were not truths, only recipient vessels, just as something in the human memory is by no means truth even though it is referred to as such. Rather the truth is held within them as its vessels. These vessels were to be formed by the Lord – or rather opened up by Him – through instruction in cognitions from the Word, not only in order that celestial things might be implanted in them but also in order that celestial things might in this way be made Divine; for the Lord joined the Divine Essence to the Human Essence in order that His Human Essence might be made Divine also.

AC (Elliott) n. 1470 sRef Gen@12 @11 S0′ 1470. ‘Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon’ means that truth from a celestial origin is delightful. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a woman beautiful to look upon’. Every truth that is celestial, that is, which is brought forth from what is celestial, is a source of happiness in the internal man and of delight in the external; and among celestial angels truth is not perceived in any other way. It is altogether different however when it does not have a celestial origin. There are two kinds of happiness in the internal man to which two kinds of delight in the external man correspond. One belongs to good, the other to truth. Celestial happiness and delight go with good, spiritual happiness and delight with truth. Furthermore it is well known that truth holds happiness and delight within it, though these are essentially such only when the truth flows from what is celestial, and therefore when the truth itself becomes celestial and is called celestial truth. This truth may also be compared to the light of the sun in spring, which light carries within it the warmth which causes everything on earth to start to grow and so to speak to come alive. This celestial truth is beauty or beautifulness itself, and is the kind of truth meant here by the words ‘a beautiful woman to look upon’. What further arcana are embodied in these words will become evident from what follows

AC (Elliott) n. 1471 sRef Gen@12 @12 S0′ 1471. Verse 12 And it will be, when the Egyptians see you they will say, This is his wife, and they will slay me and let you live.

‘And it will be, when the Egyptians see you’ means knowledge comprised of cognitions, it being the nature of that knowledge when celestial cognitions are seen that is described. ‘And they will say, This is his wife’ means that they will call those cognitions celestial ‘And they will slay me and let you live’ means that they would have no interest in the celestial things, only in the mere cognitions, which they would carry away

AC (Elliott) n. 1472 sRef Gen@12 @12 S0′ 1472. That ‘it will be, when the Egyptians see you’ means knowledge comprised of cognitions, it being the nature of that knowledge when celestial cognitions are seen that is described, becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ as knowledge comprised of cognitions, as shown already. And from this what the words ‘if the Egyptians see you’ mean may become clear, namely that this knowledge is such as is described in the present verse. Such is the case with knowledge comprised of cognitions; and it has also a certain naturalness within it, as is manifested in children when they first start to learn – that is to say, the higher things are, the more they desire them; and all the more so when they hear that these things are celestial and Divine. But this delight is natural and arises from a strong desire that belongs to the external man. With others that strong desire causes them to take delight solely in knowledge comprised of cognitions, without any other end in view; yet that knowledge is nothing else than a certain means that exists to achieve an end, which is use. That is to say, cognitions exist to serve as vessels for celestial and spiritual things, and when they are performing that service, for the first time they have a use, and from that use receive their delight. It may become clear to anyone, if he pays the matter any attention, that in itself the knowledge comprised of cognitions exists for no other reason than that a person should become rational, and from that become spiritual, and at length celestial, and that by means of those cognitions his external man may be allied to his internal. When this point is reached he has arrived at the use itself, the internal man having nothing else than uses in view. For the sake of the same end also the Lord instills the delight that childhood and youth experience in forms of knowledge. When however a person begins to take delight in knowledge alone, it is a bodily desire that carries him away; and to the extent it carries him away, that is, to the extent he takes delight in knowledge alone, to the same extent does he move away from what is celestial, and to the same extent do the facts he knows close themselves up in the Lord’s direction and become materially inclined. But insofar as facts are learned with a view to use – such as for the sake of human society, for the sake of the Lord’s Church on earth, for the sake of the Lord’s kingdom in heaven, and still more for the sake of the Lord Himself – the more they are opened out towards Him. For these reasons also the angels, who possess the knowledge that is comprised of all cognitions – having so full a possession of it that scarcely one ten thousandth part of what they know can be presented to man’s entire mental grasp – nevertheless place no value at all in knowledge when compared with use. These considerations show what is meant by the words, ‘when the Egyptians see you they will say, This is his wife, and they will slay me and let you live’. It is because the Lord when He was a boy knew this and thought in this way, that these things have been stated, namely that if He were to be carried away by a strong desire for nothing else than the knowledge that is comprised of cognitions, this knowledge would be such that He would have no interest any more in celestial things but only in the cognitions which that strong desire for knowledge would seize upon. More regarding these matters follows below.

AC (Elliott) n. 1473 sRef Gen@12 @12 S0′ 1473. ‘And they will say, This is his wife’ means that they will call those cognitions celestial. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a wife’ as truth allied to celestial things, and consequently ‘this is his wife’ means that which is celestial.

AC (Elliott) n. 1474 sRef Gen@12 @13 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @12 S0′ 1474 .’And they will slay me and let you live’ means that they would have no interest in the celestial things, only in the mere cognitions, [which they would carry away]. This is clear from what has just been stated.

[1474a] Verse 13 Say, now, you are my sister, so that it may go well for me for your sake, and my soul may live because of you.

‘Say, now, you are my sister’ means intellectual truth, which is ‘a sister’. ‘So that it may go well for me for your sake’ means in this way the celestial could not have any violence done to it. ‘And my soul may live because of you’ means that in this way the celestial could be saved.

AC (Elliott) n. 1475 sRef Gen@12 @13 S0′ 1475. ‘Say, now, you are my sister’ means intellectual truth, which is ‘a sister’. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘sister’ as intellectual truth when celestial truth is meant by ‘wife’, which meaning of ‘sister’ is shown further on. The implications here are as follows: Knowledge is of such a nature that it desires nothing more than to introduce itself into celestial things and examine them. But this is contrary to order, for if knowledge is used in this way it does violence to celestial things. The proper order is for the celestial to introduce itself by way of the spiritual into the rational and in this manner into factual knowledge, and to adapt this to itself. Unless this order is kept no wisdom can possibly exist. Also contained in the present section there are arcana as to how the Lord was taught by His Father according to order in its completeness, and so how His External Man was joined to His Internal – that is, how His external Man was made Divine, even as His Internal Man was essentially Divine, and so how He became Jehovah as regards both Essences. This was accomplished by means of cognitions, which are the means. Without cognitions as means the external man cannot indeed become truly man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1476 sRef Gen@12 @13 S0′ 1476. ‘So that it may go well for me for your sake’ means that in this way the celestial could not have any violence done to it. This is clear from what has been stated above; for as stated several times already, the order is for the celestial to flow into the spiritual, the spiritual into the rational, and this into factual knowledge. When this order exists the spiritual is adapted by the celestial to be of service, the rational by the spiritual, and factual knowledge by the rational. Factual knowledge in general becomes in that case the outermost vessel, or what amounts to the same, facts specifically and particularly become outermost vessels which correspond to rational things, rational to spiritual things, and spiritual to celestial. When this order exists no violence can be done to the celestial; but when such order does not exist violence is done to it. Since the subject here in the internal sense is the instruction received by the Lord, the way in which He progressed is described

AC (Elliott) n. 1477 sRef Gen@12 @13 S0′ 1477. ‘My soul may live because of you’ means that in this way the celestial could be saved. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘soul’ as the celestial, for being the essential life itself the celestial is the soul itself. From this it is clear what ‘so that my soul may live because of you’ means. From what follows it will be clear that celestial or Divine things were not so joined to the Lord that they constituted one Essence until He had undergone temptations and so had cast out hereditary evil from the mother. This verse and those that follow describe how in the meantime the celestial itself had no violence done to it but was saved.

AC (Elliott) n. 1478 sRef Gen@12 @14 S0′ 1478. Verse 14 And it happened, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.

‘It happened, when Abram came into Egypt’ means when the Lord started to receive instruction. ‘That the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful’ means that the knowledge which is comprised of cognitions is by nature such as to be to itself highly pleasing.

AC (Elliott) n. 1479 sRef Gen@12 @14 S0′ 1479. That ‘it happened, when Abram came into Egypt’ means when the Lord started to receive instruction is clear from the representation of ‘Abram’ in the internal sense as the Lord when a boy, and from the meaning of ‘Egypt’, as shown above at verse 10 of this chapter, as knowledge comprised of cognitions. From this it is evident that ‘coming into Egypt’ means receiving instruction.

AC (Elliott) n. 1480 sRef Gen@12 @14 S0′ 1480. ‘That the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful’ means that the knowledge which is comprised of cognitions is to itself highly pleasing. This is clear from what has been stated above at verse 11, to the effect that in childhood knowledge is of such a nature. Within knowledge an inclination so to speak exists – for that inclination is innate in man – which disposes it first of all to take pleasure in knowing just for the sake of knowing, and with no other end in view. This is so with everyone: his spirit takes great delight in knowing, so that it scarcely desires anything better, knowledge being its food by which it is sustained and renewed, as the external man is by earthly food. And this which nourishes his spirit is communicated to the external man to the end that the external man may be adapted so as to serve the internal. These foods exist consecutively, in the following order: Celestial food consists in every good of love and charity received from the Lord, while spiritual food consists in every truth of faith; these are the kinds of food by which angels live. From these comes the food – also celestial and spiritual, but of a lower angelic degree – by which angelic spirits live. And from this again comes celestial and spiritual food of a still lower degree, which is that of reason and from this of knowledge, by which good spirits live. Last of all comes bodily food, which is proper to man while he lives in the body. All these foods correspond to one another in a remarkable manner. From this it is also evident why and how knowledge is to itself most pleasing, for that pleasure is as appetite and taste; therefore also eating with man corresponds in the world of spirits to facts, and appetite and taste themselves to the intense desire for facts, as is clear from experience which will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be presented further on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1481 sRef Gen@12 @15 S0′ 1481. Verse 15 And Pharaoh’s princes saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.

‘Pharaoh’s princes saw’ means the first and foremost commandments, which are ‘pharaoh’s princes’. ‘And they praised her to Pharaoh’ means that they were pleasing. ‘And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house’ means that they sought to capture the mind (animus).

AC (Elliott) n. 1482 sRef Gen@12 @15 S0′ sRef Isa@19 @11 S0′ sRef Isa@19 @13 S0′ 1482. That ‘Pharaoh’s princes saw’ means the first and foremost commandments, which are ‘pharaoh’s princes’, is clear from the meaning of ‘princes’ and of ‘Pharaoh’. In the Word, in both its historical and its prophetical parts, princes mean the things that are first and foremost. ‘pharaoh’ has the same meaning as Egypt, Egypt or Pharaoh being used in the best sense here, since they refer to knowledge comprised of cognitions which the Lord took in first in childhood. That first and foremost commandments from the Word are meant is clear from the meaning of these princes in the internal sense. That in general ‘Pharaoh’ in the Word has the same meaning as Egypt may be confirmed from many references, even as the kings of other kingdoms who are mentioned by name have the same meaning as the actual names given to their kingdoms. But by ‘the princes’ are meant their first and foremost features, as in Isaiah,

The princes of Zoan are foolish, the wise counselors of Pharaoh. . . . How do you say to Pharaoh, I am a son of the wise, a son of the kings of old? The princes of Zoan have become fools, the princes of Noph deluded. Isa. 19:11, 13.

Here ‘the princes of Zoan and the wise counselors of Pharaoh’ stands for facts that are first and foremost. And since wisdom flourished initially in Egypt, as stated already, it is called ‘a son of the wise, and a son of the kings of old’. And there are many other places in the Word where in the same way ‘princes’ stands for features that are first and foremost.

AC (Elliott) n. 1483 sRef Gen@12 @15 S0′ 1483. That ‘they praised her to Pharaoh’ means that they were pleasing becomes clear without explanation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1484 sRef Gen@12 @16 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @15 S0′ 1484. That ‘the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house’ means that they sought to capture the mind (animus) becomes clear from the meaning of ‘woman’ and from the meaning of ‘house’. ‘Woman’ means truth, here the truth present in types of knowledge, the delights of which captivated the Lord in childhood. The delights of truth are those coming from intellectual truth meant by ‘a sister’. ‘House’ means the things that reside in man, in particular those which belong to his will, as shown already in 710, here therefore those which belong to the mind (animus), or the affection for knowing and learning.

1484[a] Verse 16 And he treated Abram well for her sake; and he had flocks and herds, and asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels.

‘He treated Abram well for her sake’ means that the facts residing with the Lord were multiplied. ‘And he had flocks and herds, and asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels’ means all things in general which constitute factual knowledge.

AC (Elliott) n. 1485 sRef Gen@12 @16 S0′ 1485. That ‘he treated Abram well for her sake’ means that the facts residing with the Lord were multiplied is clear from the meaning of ‘treating well’ as enriching. This is said in reference to knowledge, meant by ‘Pharaoh’, in that it ‘treated Abram well’, that is, was a benefit to the Lord when a boy, and was so ‘for her sake’, that is, for the sake of the intellectual truth which He desired. It was this desire for truth that caused the enriching.

AC (Elliott) n. 1486 sRef Gen@12 @17 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @17 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @16 S0′ 1486. ‘And [he had] flocks and herds, and asses and menservants, and maidservants and she-asses, and camels’ means all things in general which constitute factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of all of these in the Word. But what each one means specifically would take far too long to show, that is, to show what is meant by flocks and herds, what by asses and menservants, what by maidservants and she-asses, and what by camels. Each has its own particular meaning, but in general they mean all the things constituting the knowledge that is comprised of cognitions and all those constituting factual knowledge. Regarded in themselves facts are ‘asses and menservants’; the pleasures that go with them are ‘maidservants and she-asses’; ‘camels’ are general things of service; ‘flocks and herds’ are possessions. This applies throughout the Word. All things whatever residing with the external man are nothing else than a body of servants, that is, they exist to serve the internal man. This is how it is with all facts, which belong solely to the external man; for these are acquired from earthly and worldly things by means of sensory impressions so that they might serve the interior or rational man; and that this interior man might serve the spiritual man, the spiritual man the celestial man, and the celestial man the Lord. Thus these exist in subordination to one another as things that are exterior beneath those that are interior; and thus also every single thing exists subordinate to the Lord. Facts therefore are the ultimate and outermost things, in which in their order interior things are inclosed; and because facts are ultimate and outermost things, these more than all other things must be things of service. Anyone may recognize what it is that facts are able to serve if he reflects or asks himself the question, What is their use? When he reflects in this way on the use they serve he may also apprehend the nature of the use. Every fact must exist for the sake of a use, and this is its service.

[1486a] Verse 17 And Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues, and his house, because of Sarai,* Abram’s wife.

‘Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues’ means that facts were destroyed. ‘And his house’ means which He had gathered together. ‘Because of Sarai,* Abram’s wife’ means because of the truth that was to be allied to the celestial.
* lit. because of the word (or matter) of Sarai

AC (Elliott) n. 1487 sRef Gen@12 @17 S0′ 1487. That ‘Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues’ means that facts were destroyed is clear from the meaning of ‘Pharaoh’ as knowledge in general, and therefore as the facts that constitute that knowledge, and from the meaning of ‘being struck by plagues’ as being destroyed. With regard to facts, these are acquired in childhood with no other end in view than that of knowing. In the Lord’s case they were acquired out of delights in and affection for truth. The facts that are acquired in childhood are very many indeed, but the Lord arranges them into order, so that they may serve a use – first to enable the person to think; then so that through his thinking those facts may be of use; and at length so that the following may be accomplished, namely, that his very life may consist in use and be a life of uses. These are the things effected by the facts which he absorbs in childhood. Without them his external man could not possibly be joined to the internal and at the same time become use incarnate. When a person becomes such, that is, when all that he thinks stems from use as an end and all that he does is for the sake of use – if not by reflecting openly yet by doing so silently from a disposition acquired from reflecting openly – the facts which have served the first use, that a person may become rational, are now destroyed since they serve no further use; and so on with other facts and the uses they serve. These are the things meant here by the statement ‘Jehovah struck Pharaoh with great plagues’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1488 sRef Gen@12 @17 S0′ sRef Jer@29 @5 S0′ sRef Ps@112 @1 S1′ sRef Isa@65 @21 S1′ sRef Isa@65 @22 S1′ sRef Ps@112 @3 S1′ sRef Isa@65 @17 S1′ 1488. ‘And his house’ means which He had gathered together. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘house’ here as facts that are gathered together. Gathering facts together and by means of them raising and building up the external man is not unlike building a house, and therefore similar ideas are meant in various parts of the Word by ‘building’, and by ‘building houses’, as in Isaiah,

I am creating new heavens and a new earth. They will build houses and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit. Isa. 65:17, 21, 22.

Here ‘houses’ means where there are wisdom and intelligence, thus where there are the cognitions of good and truth, for the Lord’s kingdom is the subject, that is, ‘new heavens and a new earth’. In Jeremiah,

Build houses and inhabit them; and plant gardens and eat their fruit. Jer. 29:5.

Here the meaning is similar. In David,

Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah, who delights greatly in His commandments! Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness stands for ever. Ps. 112:1, 3.

Here ‘wealth and riches’ stands for the wealth and riches of wisdom and intelligence, thus for cognitions, which are ‘in his house’, that is, residing with him.

sRef Amos@6 @12 S2′ sRef Hag@1 @8 S2′ sRef Zeph@1 @12 S2′ sRef Amos@6 @11 S2′ sRef Isa@5 @9 S2′ sRef Isa@5 @8 S2′ sRef Hag@1 @10 S2′ sRef Isa@5 @7 S2′ sRef Hag@1 @9 S2′ sRef Zeph@1 @13 S2′ [2] ‘House’ is also used in the contrary sense: in Zephaniah,

I will visit those who say in their hearts, Jehovah has not done good nor has He done evil; and their wealth will be for plunder, and their houses for desolation, and they will build [rouses and not inhabit them, and they will plant vineyards and not drink [their] wine. Zeph 1:12, 13.

In Haggai,

Go up into the mountain and bring wood and build the house. You looked for much, and behold it was little; and when you brought it home* I blew it away. For what reason? said Jehovah. Because of My house which has been left derelict while you run each to his own house. Therefore above you the heavens have withheld their dew. Hagg. 1:8-10.

‘Houses’ stands for facts through which, by means of reasoning, falsities
come. In Isaiah,

The vineyard of Jehovah is the house of Israel.** Woe to those who join house to house, who add field to field until there is no room and you dwell alone in the midst of the land! Will not many houses be a desolation, large and good ones, without inhabitant? Isa. 5:7-9.

Here also ‘houses’ stands for facts through which come falsities. In Amos,

Behold, Jehovah commands, and He will smite the great house with breaches and the little house with clefts. Will horses run upon the rock? Will one plough there with oxen? that you turn judgement into poison and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. Amos 6:11, 12.

Here similarly ‘houses’ stands for falsities and derivative evils, ‘horses’ for reasoning, ‘judgement’ for truths which are ‘turned into poison’, and ‘the fruits of righteousness’ for goods which are ‘turned into wormwood’.

[3] Thus in various parts of the Word ‘houses’ stands for human minds in which intelligence and wisdom ought to be present. Here ‘the house of Pharaoh’ stands for facts by means of which comes intelligence and by means of this wisdom. Similar things were also meant by ‘the house which Solomon built for Pharaoh’s daughter’, 1 Kings 7:8 and following verses. Because ‘a house’ stands for minds that have intelligence and wisdom within them, and that have within them affections that belong to the will, therefore the word ‘house’ in the Word has a wide range of meaning, but what it means in a specific instance becomes clear from the things to which it has reference. In addition man himself is called ‘a house’.
* lit. into the house
** These words seem to have been added as an afterthought and without reference. They have been restored to their correct place.

AC (Elliott) n. 1489 sRef Gen@12 @17 S0′ 1489. ‘Because of Sarai,* Abram’s wife’ means because of the truth that was to be allied to the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a wife’ and therefore of ‘Sarai his wife’ as truth that was to be allied to the celestial, dealt with above at verse 12. The implications are as follows: Unless the facts which have performed the use in childhood of making the person rational are destroyed so that they are nothing, truth cannot possibly be joined to the celestial. Those first facts are for the most part earthly, bodily, and worldly. No matter how Divine the commandments may be that a child absorbs, he nevertheless gains from them no other mental picture than what may be obtained from such facts. Therefore as long as those very lowly facts from which he gets his ideas remain with him, the mind cannot be raised any higher. It was just the same with the Lord, for He was born like any other and had to receive instruction like any other, though according to the Divine order such as has been stated already. Contained within these details regarding Abram in Egypt is a description of the Divine order, of the way in which with the Lord the external Man was joined to the Internal to make the External Man Divine as well.
* lit. because of the word (or matter) of Sarai

AC (Elliott) n. 1490 sRef Gen@12 @18 S0′ 1490. Verse 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife? ‘And Pharaoh called Abram’ means that the Lord recalled to mind. ‘And said, What is this you have done to me?’ means that it grieved Him. ‘[Why did you not tell me] that she is your wife?’ means when He recognized that He ought to possess no other truth than that which was to be joined to the celestial.

AC (Elliott) n. 1491 sRef Gen@12 @18 S0′ 1491. That ‘Pharaoh called Abram’ means that the Lord recalled to mind becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Pharaoh’ as knowledge. The knowledge itself, that is, the facts which the Lord absorbed when a boy, are here called ‘Pharaoh’. Thus it is knowledge itself which so addressed the Lord, that is, Jehovah did so by means of knowledge. From this it is evident that the words used here mean that the Lord recalled to mind. Awareness came through knowledge, thus through Pharaoh, who, as stated, means knowledge.

AC (Elliott) n. 1492 sRef Gen@12 @18 S0′ 1492. That ‘he said, What is this you have done to me?’ means that it grieved Him becomes clear-also from the very indignant way in which these things were said. The resulting grief itself is thus expressed. The internal sense is such that it is the emotion itself lying hidden within the words which constitutes the internal sense. No attention is paid to the words of the letter; it is as though these did not exist. The emotion held within the words used here is so to speak knowledge’s indignation and the Lord’s grief, and is indeed grief arising from the realization that the facts which He had absorbed with pleasure and delight were to be thus destroyed. It is the same with little children who, when something they love is taken away from them which their parents see is harmful to them, grieve over their loss of it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1493 sRef Gen@12 @18 S0′ 1493. ‘She is your wife’ means that he ought to possess no other truth than that which was to be joined to the celestial. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a wife’ as truth that is to be joined to the celestial, dealt with above at verse 12. Here, as has been stated, the order is described by which the Lord advanced to intelligence, and so to wisdom, to the end that His whole person might be Wisdom itself – as He was as to the Divine Essence He might also become as to the Human Essence.

AC (Elliott) n. 1494 sRef Gen@12 @19 S0′ 1494. Verse 19 Why did you say, She is my sister? I might have taken her to be my wife (mulier). And now, behold your wife, take her and go.

‘Why did you say, She is my sister?’ means that He knew no other at that time than that He possessed intellectual truth. ‘I might have taken her to be my wife (mulier)’ means that this being so He could have done violence to the truth that was to be joined to what is celestial. ‘And now, behold your wife, take her and go’ means that truth was to be joined to what is celestial.

AC (Elliott) n. 1495 sRef Gen@12 @19 S0′ 1495. ‘Why did you say, She is my sister?’ means that He knew no other at that time than that He possessed intellectual truth. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a sister’ as intellectual truth, and also from the fact that Abram had said so, as is clear from verse 13, which was done to the end that what was celestial should suffer no violence but should be saved. From this it was evident that when the Lord as a boy absorbed facts. He first of all knew no otherwise than that facts existed solely for the sake of the intellectual man, that is, that they existed so that from them He might come to know truths. But later on it was disclosed that they had existed so that He might attain to celestial things. This took place so that celestial things should suffer no violence but be saved. When a person is being instructed the progression is from facts to rational truths, then on to intellectual truths, and finally to celestial truths, which are meant here by ‘a wife’. If that progression passes from facts and rational truths straight to celestial truths and not by means of intellectual truths, then that which is celestial suffers violence; for no connection is then possible, linking rational truths, based on facts, with celestial truths, except through intellectual truths, which are means. What celestial truths are, and what intellectual truths are, will be seen in what follows shortly

[2] To enable people to know what is implied in all this, something must be said about order. Order consists in the celestial flowing into the spiritual and adapting this to be of service to itself; the spiritual in the same way flowing into the rational and adapting this to itself; the rational in the same way into factual knowledge and adapting this to itself. But when a person is receiving instruction during earliest childhood, the same order in fact exists, but it appears to be otherwise; that is to say, he appears to progress from facts to rational things, from these to spiritual, and so at length to celestial things. The reason why his instruction appears to follow such a course is that a way must thereby be opened to celestial things, which are inmost. All instruction is simply the opening of a way; and as the way is opened – or what amounts to the same, as vessels are opened – an ordered influx accordingly takes place, as has been stated, of rational things derived from celestial-spiritual things with celestial- spiritual things flowing into rational, and celestial things into celestial-spiritual. Such celestial things are presenting themselves uninterruptedly, and are also preparing for themselves and forming the vessels which are being opened. This is also made clear by the fact that in themselves factual knowledge and rational conception are dead, but that they give the appearance of being alive because of the interior life flowing into them. This may become plain to anyone from the powers of thought and of forming judgements.

[3] Hidden within those powers lie all the secrets of analytical art and science, which are so many that not one ten-thousandth part of them can ever be explored; and these secrets lie hidden not only with the adult person but also with children. All their thought and everything they speak from it is full of such things – though not one, not even the most learned, is aware of this; yet this could not be unless celestial and spiritual things within had been presenting themselves, flowing in, and bringing forth all these thoughts and utterances.

AC (Elliott) n. 1496 sRef Gen@12 @19 S0′ 1496. ‘I might have taken her to be my wife (mulier)’ means that this being so He could have done violence to the truth that was to be joined to what is celestial. This becomes clear from what has just been stated as well as from what was stated above at verse 13. As to truth being joined to that which is celestial, the situation is that regarded in itself truth learned in childhood is nothing else than a vessel adapted for that which is celestial to be introduced into it. By itself truth has no life except from the celestial flowing in. The celestial consists in love and charity, and all truth exists from these; and because all truth exists from these it is nothing else than a kind of vessel. What is more, truths themselves are plainly manifested as such in the next life, for there it is not the truths themselves that are seen but the life they have within them, that is, the celestial things within them that consist of love and charity. It is from these that truths are made celestial and are called celestial truths. From this it may now become clear what intellectual truth is, and also that intellectual truth opened a way to celestial things residing with the Lord. Factual truth is one thing, rational truth another, and intellectual truth yet another. They follow on consecutively. Factual truth is a matter of knowledge; rational truth is factual truth confirmed by reason; while intellectual truth is joined to an internal perception that the thing is so. This kind of truth resided with the Lord in childhood, and with Him opened the way to celestial things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1497 sRef Gen@12 @19 S0′ 1497. ‘Now behold your wife, take her and go’ means that truth was to be joined to what is celestial. This is clear from the meaning of ‘wife’ as truth that was to be joined to the celestial, as shown above at verses 11, 12, and from what has just been stated.

AC (Elliott) n. 1498 sRef Gen@12 @20 S0′ 1498. Verse 20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

‘Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, [and they sent him away]’ means that facts went away from the Lord. ‘And his wife’ means that they also went away from the truths that were joined to celestial things. ‘And all that he had’ means all things that belonged to celestial truths.

AC (Elliott) n. 1499 sRef Gen@12 @20 S0′ 1499. That ‘Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him, tend they sent him away]’ means that facts went away from the Lord is clear from the meaning of ‘Pharaoh’ as knowledge, and also from the meaning of ‘men’ as things belonging to the understanding, as shown already in 158. Because the men referred to here are said to belong to ‘Pharaoh’, or knowledge, they mean such things of the understanding supporting such knowledge. The implication of facts going away from the Lord is as follows: When celestial things are being joined to intellectual truths and these truths are becoming celestial, all things that are empty disperse by themselves. This is how it is with that which is celestial.

AC (Elliott) n. 1500 sRef Gen@12 @20 S0′ 1500. That ‘his wife’ means that they – that is, facts – also went away from the truths that were joined to celestial things is clear from the meaning of ‘wife’ as truth joined to the celestial, dealt with above, and also from what has just been stated. Empty facts go away from celestial things, as vain notions are accustomed to do from wisdom. They are like shells or scales that fall away of their own accord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1501 sRef Gen@12 @20 S0′ 1501. That ‘all that he had’ means all things that belonged to celestial truths follows from what has been said above.

AC (Elliott) n. 1502 sRef Matt@2 @15 S0′ sRef Gen@12 @20 S0′ sRef Hos@11 @1 S0′ 1502. From these considerations it is now evident that Abram’s sojourning in Egypt represents and means nothing else than the Lord, in particular His instruction during childhood. This is also confirmed by what is stated in Hosea,

Out of Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15.

And further still from what is said in Moses,

The dwelling of the sons of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it happened at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, on that very day it happened that all the hosts of Jehovah went out of the land of Egypt. Exod. 12:40, 41.

Those four hundred and thirty years were measured not from the time that Jacob entered Egypt but from Abram’s sojourning in Egypt. Thus ‘My son out of Egypt’ in Hosea 11:1 means, in the internal sense, the Lord. The matter gains further confirmation from the fact that ‘Egypt’ in the Word means nothing other than knowledge, as shown in 1164, 1165, 1462.

[2] And that these arcana are contained in this section may become additionally clear from the fact that similar things are said of Abram when he sojourned in Philistia, namely that he called his wife his sister, Gen. 20:1-end, and also of Isaac, who, when he too sojourned in Philistia, called his wife his sister, Gen. 26:6-13. These actions would never have been recorded in the Word, and set in almost identical circumstances, unless these arcana had been lying hidden within. Furthermore this is the Word of the Lord which cannot possibly have any life unless there is an internal sense which has regard to Him.

[3] The arcana which lie hidden in this section, and in those regarding Abram and Isaac in Philistia, have to do with the way in which the Lord’s Human Essence was joined to His Divine Essence, or what amounts to the same, how the Lord became Jehovah as regards His Human Essence also. They also have to do with the fact that His initiation, which is the subject in this chapter, began in childhood. Besides all this these descriptions also embody more arcana than anyone can possibly believe, and those that can be mentioned are so few as to be scarcely anything at all. In addition to the very deep arcana concerning the Lord, they also embody arcana concerning the instruction and regeneration of a person so that he may become celestial, as well as his instruction and regeneration so that he may become spiritual; and not only concerning the individual in particular but also concerning the Church in general. The descriptions here also embody arcana regarding the instruction of young children in heaven. In short they have to do with all who become images and likenesses of the Lord. These arcana are not at all clearly visible in the sense of the letter, the reason being that historical details engulf and obscure them; but they are clearly visible in the internal sense.


AC (Elliott) n. 1504 1504.* PERCEPTIONS AND SPHERES IN THE NEXT LIFE- continued

It has been stated already that in the next life the character of another is recognized as soon as he starts to approach, even though he does not say anything. From this one may see that man’s interiors are engaged in a kind of undiscerned activity, and that from this the nature of the spirit is perceived. That this is so has become clear to me from the fact that the sphere emanating from this activity not only spreads itself a long way out but also that sometimes, when the Lord permits, it becomes in various ways perceptible to the senses.
* There is no paragraph 1503 in the Latin.

AC (Elliott) n. 1505 1505. I have also been informed about the way in which these spheres, which in the next life become so perceptible to the senses, are acquired. So that this information can be stated and understood, let a person be taken as an example who has adopted a high opinion of himself and of his superiority over others. Eventually he is permeated by a disposition and so to speak natural condition which are such that wherever he goes and there sees others and talks to them he is regardful of himself. At first the disposition exists manifestly, but after that does not, so that he is not aware of it; but it still reigns, not only in every detail of his affection and thought, but also in every detail of his bodily gestures and every detail of his utterances. People can see this in others, and it is such that it produces in the next life a sphere that is perceived, though only as often as the Lord allows. The same applies with other affections, and therefore just so many spheres exist as there are affections and combinations of affections, which are countless. The sphere is so to speak a person’s image projecting outside of himself, and is in fact an image of all that resides within him. But that which is manifested in a visible or perceptible form in the world of spirits is merely something general, whereas in heaven the particular facets of the person’s character are known. But nobody except the Lord alone knows the individual details of a person’s character.

AC (Elliott) n. 1506 1506. So that the nature of spheres may be known, let some things from experience be cited. A certain spirit whom I had known and spoken to during his lifetime afterwards appeared many times among the evil. This was because he had a high opinion of himself and had acquired a sphere of superiority over others. Because he was like this the spirits began suddenly to flee from there so that none was to be seen except him alone. At that time he was filling the entire sphere round about, which was a sphere of self-regard. Shortly after, when deprived of his companions, he sank into another state; for in the next life anyone who is deprived of the society of his fellows becomes at first so to speak half dead. His life is then maintained solely by the influx of heaven into his interiors. At that point this spirit whom I had known started to groan and to suffer torment. I was told afterwards by other spirits that since he wished to be greater than others, they could not tolerate his presence. At length he was joined by others and was taken on to a height, and from this position it seemed to him that he alone governed the universe; for so far does self-love puff itself up when left to itself. Finally he was cast down among those in hell. Such is the fate awaiting those who imagine that they are greater than others. More than every other kind of love self-love is contrary to mutual love, which constitutes the life of heaven.

AC (Elliott) n. 1507 1507. There was a certain spirit who during his lifetime had seemed to himself to be greater and wiser than others. He was otherwise upright, and not so inclined to despise others in comparison with himself. But since he had been born among those of high rank he had acquired a sphere of supereminence and authority. This spirit came to me and for a long time said nothing, but I noticed that he was encompassed as by a mist which spread from him and began to envelop other spirits; as a result these spirits began to feel distressed. As a consequence of this they spoke to me, saying that they could not possibly remain as they were deprived of all freedom, so that they did not dare to say a word. Then that spirit began to speak; he addressed himself to them, calling them his sons, and at times instructing them, but with that authority which he had acquired to himself. This experience made clear what the sphere of authority is like in the next life.

AC (Elliott) n. 1508 1508. On many occasions I have been given to observe that those who in the world had been endowed with high rank bad inevitably acquired to themselves a sphere of authority, and therefore in the next life could neither conceal nor get rid of that sphere. With those of them who have been endowed with faith and charity the sphere of authority is joined wonderfully to a sphere of goodness, so that it is not troublesome to anyone. Indeed a kind of corresponding deference is paid to them by well-minded spirits. But with them it is not a sphere of ruling, merely a natural sphere that exists because they were born such and which they get rid of eventually after a period of time because they are good and strive to get rid of it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1509 1509. There were once with me for several days spirits who during their lifetime had been such that they had not striven for the good of society, but only for themselves, serving no useful purpose to the general public. Their sole end in view had been to live sumptuously, to be dressed splendidly, and to grow rich; and they had been accustomed to false presences and to the ways of worming themselves in by various forms of flattering assent and of readiness to be of service, solely to the end that they might be noticed and be given charge of their master’s property. All who were earnestly serving a purpose they looked down on with contempt. I perceived that they had been courtiers. Their sphere was such that it took away from me my whole concentration and made it so extremely troublesome for me to carry out and to think about serious things, true and good, that at length I hardly knew what to do. When such individuals as these come among spirits they bring upon them a similar listlessness. In the next life they are useless members and are cast out from wherever they go.

AC (Elliott) n. 1510 1510. Every spirit has his own sphere, and every community of spirits even more so, which emanates from the assumptions and the persuasions he has adopted. This sphere is that of his assumptions and persuasions. Evil genii possess a sphere of evil desires. The sphere of assumptions and persuasions is such that when it acts on another person it causes truths to be as falsities, and stirs up all things which are of a confirmatory nature, so as to induce a belief that falsities are truths, and that evils are goods.

[2] This has made clear to me how easily a person can be confirmed in falsities and evils if he does not believe in the truths which come from the Lord. The density of such spheres depends on the nature of the falsities that are present; and those spheres cannot possibly coexist with the spheres of spirits who abide by truths. If those spheres draw near, a repugnance arises; and if, because it is permitted to do so, the sphere of falsity prevails, the good enter into temptation and into distress. I have also perceived the sphere of disbelief, which is such that those to whom it belongs do not believe anything they are told, and scarcely believe that which they are given to see with their eyes. There is also the sphere of those who believe nothing apart from what they apprehend with the senses.

[3] I also once saw a certain spirit dressed in black who was sitting at a mill and, it seemed, was grinding flour. To the side of him I saw little mirrors. Subsequently I saw some things which were the product of delusion but which were airy. I wondered who he was, but he came to me and said that it was he who had been seated at the mill, and that he possessed such ideas as that every single thing was the product merely of delusion and that nothing was real, on account of which, he added, he had become what he was.

AC (Elliott) n. 1511 1511. From much experience I have been led to know, and in such a way that nothing can be known more fully, that spirits who are immersed in falsities flow into the thought present in others and are so utterly persuasive in making falsity look like truth that such falsity cannot possibly be seen as anything other than truth; and this they accomplish by their sphere. It is similar with genii who are immersed in evils. These in a similar way flow into the will, making evil seem so utterly like good that such evil cannot possibly be perceived as anything other than good; and they too accomplish it by their sphere. I have been allowed to perceive clearly that influx of spirits or of genii a thousand times, and also to perceive from whom it came, as well as how angels from the Lord removed those influences, besides many other things which cannot easily be described in detail. From this it has become clear to me, surer than anything else can be, where the falsities and evils residing with man originate, and that the sources of such spheres as remain after the life of the body and manifest themselves so plainly are false assumptions and evil desires.

AC (Elliott) n. 1512 1512. When the spheres of delusions are manifested visually they are seen as clouds, varying in density according to the nature of the delusion. There is a certain rock covered in mist beneath the left foot where certain spirits who lived before the Flood belong, and beneath which they remain. That mistiness arises out of their delusions, and here they are kept well away from all others in the next life. From those who have led lives of hatred and revenge such spheres emanate as cause fainting or vomiting. Such spheres are so to speak poisonous. Just how poisonous they are and how dense is usually ascertained by means of what look like dark bluish streaks which fade away as the spheres decrease.

AC (Elliott) n. 1513 1513. One of those who are called the lukewarm came to me behaving as though he had at last come to his senses. I did not sense deceit, though I did think that he was concealing something. But spirits said that they could not tolerate his presence, and that they felt as people usually do when about to vomit. They said that he was one of those who had to be spat out. After that he uttered things that are quite unrepeatable, and could not stop doing so, no matter how much he was being persuaded not to utter them.

AC (Elliott) n. 1514 1514. Spheres are also made perceptible to the senses by means of odors, which spirits smell far more keenly than men do; for, remarkably, odors correspond to spheres. With people who have given themselves up to the practice of deceit and have as a consequence acquired a deceitful disposition, there is a stink of vomit when their sphere is converted into an odor. With those who have studied how to speak eloquently so that it may all lead to self-admiration, their sphere when converted into something odoriferous is like the smell of burnt bread. With those who have given themselves up to the pursuit of mere pleasure and with whom no charity or faith has existed, the odor of their sphere is that of excrement. It is similar in the case of those who have gone through life committing adultery, whose odor is even more obnoxious. With those who have led lives of intense hatred, of revenge, and of practicing cruelty their sphere, when converted into odors, is the stench of a corpse. From those who have been disgustingly avaricious the stench of mice is given off, and the stench of house-lice or bugs comes from those who persecute the innocent. These odors cannot be detected by anyone unless his interior senses have been opened in such a way that he is at the same time in the company of spirits.

AC (Elliott) n. 1515 1515. I once perceived the sphere of the stench of a woman who afterwards entered into association with sirens, and for a period of several days that stench emanated from her wherever she went. The spirits said the stench appeared to be deadly, though she herself did not perceive it at all. The stench of the sirens is similar because their interiors are filthy, but their exteriors are for the most part attractive and good looking. Such have been described in 831. It is a remarkable fact that in the next life sirens mentally take in everything there, and have a better knowledge than others have of the nature of things, even matters of doctrine. But they take everything in to the end that they may turn it into magic and give themselves dominion over others. By a presence of good and truth they enter into good people’s affections, but their own dispositions remain such as they were before. From this it becomes clear that a matter of doctrine has no value at all unless a person so becomes what it teaches, that is, unless he keeps life as the end in view. There are in addition many among the inhabitants of hell who have been more expert in matters of doctrine than anybody else. But those who have led charitable lives are all in heaven.

AC (Elliott) n. 1516 1516. I have spoken to spirits about the sense of taste, which they said they did not have but instead something by which they nevertheless know what taste is like. They said that it was like an odor, which however they were unable to describe. I then recalled that taste and smell come together in a kind of third sense, as is also clear from animals who examine their food by smelling it and from this they are shown whether it is nourishing and suitable for them.

AC (Elliott) n. 1517 1517. I once perceived an odor of wine, and I was told that it came from those who, out of friendship and love that is lawful, endear themselves, so that truth also is contained within their endearing words and actions. There is much variety of this odor, and it derives from the sphere of true courteousness.

AC (Elliott) n. 1518 1518. When celestial angels are with the corpse of a dead person who is to be awakened, the odor from the corpse is converted into one that is fragrant, and when evil spirits perceive it they are unable to draw near.

AC (Elliott) n. 1519 1519. When spheres of charity and faith are perceived as odors they are most delightful. They are pleasant odors, like those of flowers, lilies, and different kinds of aromatic substances, with endless variety. In addition the spheres of the angels are sometimes manifested visually as auras which are so beautiful, so pleasant, and so varied that they defy description

AC (Elliott) n. 1520 1520. But in regard to what has been said about the ability to perceive the interiors of a spirit by means of the spheres that are extended and projected outside of him, and also by means of odors, it should be recognized that such spheres and odors are not constantly occurring. Besides they are moderated by the Lord in various ways to prevent a spirit’s true character from always being exposed to others.

AC (Elliott) n. 1521 1521. 13

THE LIGHT IN WHICH ANGELS ARE LIVING

Many experiences have made it quite clear to me that spirits and angels possess all of the senses except taste, and that these are far keener and more perfect than man’s ever are. Not only do angels see and form relationships with one another, experiencing as they do so supreme happiness resulting from mutual love; there are also more things which they see in their world than man can ever believe. The world of spirits and the heavens are full of representative phenomena like those seen by the prophets, and so many in number that if a person’s sight were opened to behold them just for a few hours he would inevitably be dumbfounded. The light in heaven is such as to be unbelievably superior to the light in the physical world at midday. Yet no light from this world reaches those who are in heaven since they are above or within the sphere where that light shines; instead they have Light from the Lord, who is their Sun. To angels even the midday light of the world is like pitch darkness, and when they are allowed to peer at the light, it is as though they were peering into sheer darkness, as I have been given to know from experience. From this it becomes clear how different the light of heaven is from the light of the world.

AC (Elliott) n. 1522 1522. The light in which spirits and angels live I have seen so many times that I have at length grown accustomed to it and have consequently ceased to marvel at it. It would take up too much space however to introduce every experience, so let merely the few that follow be mentioned.

AC (Elliott) n. 1523 1523. To enable me to know the nature of the light I have been taken several times into the dwelling-places of good and of angelic spirits, where I have seen not only them but also their surroundings. I have also seen- infants and mothers in-light so bright and shining that nothing could ever be brighter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1524 1524. A blazing flame streamed down unexpectedly in front of me, blinding with its power not only the sight of my eyes but also my interior sight. Shortly afterwards a kind of obscurity appeared like a dark cloud containing so to speak something earthy. While I wondered at this I was led to realize that the light among angels in heaven is, in contrast to the light in the world of spirits, so much greater. Although spirits do live in light it is nevertheless as different as that. And as is the case with the light, so too are the intelligence and wisdom of angels superior to the intelligence and wisdom of spirits; and not only their intelligence and wisdom, but also everything connected with these, such as speech, thought, joy, and forms of happiness, for these correspond to the light. From this it has also become clear to me how great angelic perfection is, and what its nature is in contrast to that of men whose obscurity is even greater than that of spirits.

AC (Elliott) n. 1525 1525. I was shown the light in which those live who belong to one of the internal provinces of the face. It was a brightness shot through with beautiful rays of golden flame for those whose affections are for good, and with rays of silvery light for those whose affections are for truth. Sometimes too they see a sky, though not the sky visible to our eyes. Before their eyes appears a representation of the sky, studded very beautifully with little stars. The reason for this difference in the light is that all good spirits who live in the first heaven, all angelic spirits who live in the second, and all angels who live in the third, are divided in general into celestial and spiritual. The celestial are those whose love is for good, the spiritual those whose love is for truth.

AC (Elliott) n. 1526 1526. I was led away from ideas of particulars,* that is, things of the body, so that my mind might be kept to spiritual ideas; at that time a brilliance was seen produced by flashes of light as from a diamond, and it remained for quite a long time. I cannot describe the light in any other way, for it was indeed like a diamond with a flashing brilliance in every tiniest facet. And while I was being kept in that light I perceived the particulars, which were things of a worldly and bodily kind, as being so to speak beneath me and far away. This taught me how much light those persons have who have been led away from material into spiritual ideas. Moreover I have seen the light spirits and angels have so many times that it would fill up page after page if I were to recount all my experiences.
* i. e. things that are material; compare 1639.

AC (Elliott) n. 1527 1527. When it pleases the Lord, good spirits appear to others, and even to themselves, like shining stars, shining with an intensity answering to the nature of their charity and faith. But evil spirits look like lumps of burning coat

AC (Elliott) n. 1528 1528. The life that goes with evil desires and resulting pleasures sometimes appears as a coal fire among evil spirits. The life of the Lord’s love and mercy which flows into them is turned into this kind of fire. The life of their delusions however looks like the glow from that fire – a glow that is dim and does not reach very far. But indeed when the life that stems from mutual love draws near, that burning is put out and converted into cold, while that dim light is converted into darkness. For evil spirits dwell in darkness, and what is astonishing, some even love darkness and detest the light.

AC (Elliott) n. 1529 1529. It is very well known in heaven, but not so well known in the world of spirits, where so great a light comes from, namely from the Lord. And what is astonishing, the Lord appears to celestial angels in the third heaven as the Sun, but to spiritual angels as the Moon. There is no other source of light. But the intensity of the light angels experience depends on how celestial and spiritual they are, and the nature of the light depends on the nature of these qualities. Thus the Lord’s celestial and spiritual itself shows itself before angers’ external vision by means of the light.

AC (Elliott) n. 1530 sRef Ex@24 @10 S0′ sRef Isa@30 @26 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @23 S0′ sRef Rev@22 @5 S0′ 1530. The truth of this could be proved to anyone from the Word, for example, when the Lord revealed Himself to Peter, James, and John, for His face at that time shone like the sun and His garments became white as the light, Matt 17:2. The sole reason why He appeared to them in this way was that their interior sight had been opened. The same is also confirmed from the Prophets, as in Isaiah when reference is being made to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven,

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days. Isa 30:26.

And in John, where reference is being made to the Lord’s kingdom which is called the New Jerusalem,

The city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shed light in it; for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. Rev. 21:23.

And elsewhere in the same book,

There will be no night there, nor do they need a lamp or light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. Rev 22:5.

And in addition when the Lord appeared to Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders, it is said that they saw the God of Israel under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for clearness, Exod 24:10. Because the Lord’s celestial and spiritual appears before the external sight of the angels as the Sun and the Moon, ‘the sun’ in the Word therefore means what is celestial, and ‘the moon’ what is spiritual.

AC (Elliott) n. 1531 sRef Isa@30 @26 S0′ 1531. To confirm for me the fact that the Lord appears to celestial angels as the Sun and to spiritual angels as the Moon, my interior sight was in the Lord’s Divine mercy opened to the point where I saw plainly a shining Moon surrounded by a number of smaller moons. Their light amounted almost to that of the sun, in accordance with the words in Isaiah,

The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun. Isa. 30:26.

But I was not allowed to behold the Sun. The Moon appeared in front of me to the right.

AC (Elliott) n. 1532 1532. From the Lord’s light in heaven wonderful things appear, too numerous ever to be listed. There is a constant stream of representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom like those mentioned in the Prophets and in the Revelation to John, besides other things that carry a spiritual meaning. Man never can behold those things with the eyes of the body, but the moment anyone’s interior sight, which is the sight of his spirit, is opened by the Lord, such things can be rendered visible. The visions of the prophets were nothing else than occasions when the interior sight was opened, as when John saw the golden lampstands, Rev. 1:12, 13, and the holy city as pure gold, and its light like a very precious stone, Rev. 21:2, 10, 11, and more besides in the Prophets, from which one may know not only that angels live in supreme light but also that more things exist there than anyone can possibly believe.

AC (Elliott) n. 1533 1533. Before my sight was opened I was scarcely able to entertain any different idea than that entertained by others about the countless things to be seen in the next life. I had thought that light and such things as come from it, as well as the objects of the senses, did not exist at all in the next life. This was the result of the delusion under which the learned labour about the immaterial, which they harp on so much in speaking of spirits and everything in their life. In consequence it was impossible to conceive of anything immaterial except as either something too obscure to be grasped by the mind, or as nothing, for that is what immaterial implies The reality however is altogether the reverse, for unless spirits had organs and angels were made of organic substance, they could neither speak, nor see, nor think.

AC (Elliott) n. 1534 1534. At the end of this chapter, where the subject of light is continued, it may be seen that in the next life, thanks to the light coming from the Lord – from a celestial and spiritual origin – absolutely marvellous sights present themselves before spirits’ and angers’ sense of sight, such as the paradise gardens, cities, palaces, homes, most beautiful skies, and many other things besides.

GENESIS 13

1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and everything he had, and Lot with him, towards the south.

2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold.

3 And he went in accordance with his journeys from the south and even to Bethel, even to the place where his tent had been at the start, between Bethel and Ai,

4 To the place of the altar that he made there in the beginning; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

5 And Lot also who went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents.

6 And the land was unable to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their acquisitions were great, and they could not dwell together.

7 And there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land.

8 And Abram said to Lot, Let there not be strife, now, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are men who are brothers.

9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, now, from me. If you go to the left then I will go to the right, but if you go to the right I will go to the left.

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and he saw all the plain of Jordan, that the whole of it was well-watered, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar.

11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan; and Lot travelled from the east, and they were separated, man from his brother.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

13 And the men (vir) of Sodom were evil and great sinners before Jehovah.

14 And Jehovah said to Abram after Lot had been separated from him, Lift up your eyes, now, and look from the place where you are, towards the north, and towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the west.

15 For all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed even for ever.

16 And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, so also will your seed be numbered.

17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for to you will I give it.

18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to Jehovah.

AC (Elliott) n. 1535 sRef Gen@13 @0 S0′ 1535. CONTENTS

The subject in this chapter is the external Man in the Lord which was to be joined to His Internal Man. The external Man is the Human Essence, the Internal the Divine Essence. The former is represented here by Lot, but the latter by Abram.

AC (Elliott) n. 1536 sRef Gen@13 @0 S0′ 1536. Described here is the state of the external Man as it existed in childhood when it was first endowed with facts and cognitions – how it moved on from these more and more towards conjunction with the Internal, verses 1-4.

AC (Elliott) n. 1537 sRef Gen@13 @0 S0′ 1537. But still more things were present in His External Man prevented conjunction, verses 5-7. From these however He wished to be separated, verses 8, 9.

AC (Elliott) n. 1538 sRef Gen@13 @0 S0′ 1538. There appeared to the Lord the external Man as it exists in its beauty when joined to the Internal Man, and also as it exists when not joined, verses 10-13.

AC (Elliott) n. 1539 sRef Gen@13 @0 S0′ 1539. A promise that when the external Man was joined to the Internal, that is, when the Lord’s Human Essence was joined to the Divine Essence, He would be given all power, verses 14-17. Then in verse 18 the Lord’s interior perception is referred to.

AC (Elliott) n. 1540 sRef Matt@2 @15 S0′ 1540. THE INTERNAL SENSE

As has been stated, narratives in the Word that draw on true history began with the previous chapter. Down to that point, or rather down to Eber, they were made-up history. The continuation of the Abram story here means in the internal sense the Lord and in particular His life as it was at first before His External Man had been joined to His Internal to the point of their functioning as a unit, that is, before His external Man as well had become celestial and Divine. The historical details are what represent the Lord, while the actual words mean those things that are being represented. But because they are historical descriptions the mind of the reader. inevitably dwells upon them, especially nowadays when the majority, indeed almost everybody, does not believe in the existence of an internal sense at all, let alone within individual words. And perhaps they will still not acknowledge the existence of it even though it has been shown so clearly up to this point. There is the further reason that the internal sense seems to be so withdrawn from the sense of the letter that it is scarcely recognizable. Yet they can know of it merely from the consideration that historical records by themselves cannot ever constitute the Word, for there is no more of the Divine in them when they are separated from the internal sense than in any other historical narrative. It is the internal sense that makes it Divine. The fact that the internal sense is the Word itself is clear from many things that have been revealed, such as

Out of Egypt have I called My son. Matt. 2:15.

besides many others like this. The Lord Himself also, after the Resurrection, taught the disciples what had been written concerning Himself in Moses and the Prophets, Luke 24:27, thus that nothing has been written in the Word which does not have regard to Him, to His kingdom, and to the Church. These are the spiritual and celestial things of the Word, but the sense of the letter consists for the most part of worldly, bodily, and earthly images which cannot possibly constitute the Word of the Lord. Nowadays people are such that they do not perceive anything except matters of this sort. They scarcely know what spiritual and celestial things are. It was different with the member of the Most Ancient Church or of the Ancient Church. If he were living today and reading the Word he would not pay any attention to the sense of the letter, which he would regard as nothing at all, but only to the internal sense. Members of those Churches are utterly amazed that anyone perceives the Word in any other way. All the books of the ancients therefore were written in such a fashion that they had a different import in the interior sense from what they had in the letter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1541 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1541. Verse 1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and everything he had, and Lot with him, towards the south.

These details and those that follow in this chapter also in the internal sense represent the Lord; they continue the subject of His life from childhood. ‘Abram went up out of Egypt’ means away from the facts which went away from the Lord, ‘Abram’ in the internal sense being the Lord, here when still a boy; ‘Egypt’ here, as previously, being knowledge. ‘He and his wife’ means celestial truths which at that time resided with the Lord. ‘And everything he had’ means everything belonging to celestial things. ‘And Lot with him’ means the power of sensory perception. ‘Towards the south’ means into celestial light.

AC (Elliott) n. 1542 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1542. That these details and those that follow in this chapter also in the internal sense represent the Lord, and that they continue the subject of His life from childhood, becomes clear from the things which have been stated and shown in the previous chapter and also from those which follow. Above all it becomes clear from the fact that this is the Word of the Lord and has come down from Him by way of heaven, and thus that not one single part of any expression has been written down in it that does not embody heavenly arcana. With an origin such as this how can it ever be anything different? That the subject in the internal sense is the instruction received by the Lord when a boy has been shown already. There are with man two things which prevent his becoming celestial; one belongs to the understanding part of his mind, the other to the will part. Belonging to the understanding part are the useless facts which he absorbs in childhood and adolescence; belonging to the will part are the pleasures arising out of the evil desires which he inclines to. Both the former and the latter are what stand in the way of him possibly attaining to celestial things. These must first be dispersed, and when they have been dispersed he is able for the first time to be introduced into the light reflected by celestial things, and finally into celestial light itself.

[2] Because the Lord was born as any other is born and needed to be taught as any other has to be, He had also to learn facts; this was represented and meant by Abram’s sojourning in Egypt. And the consideration that empty facts ultimately went away from Him was also represented by Pharaoh’s giving his men orders to send him away, and his wife, and everything he had – verse 20 of the previous chapter. The fact that the pleasures which belong to the will parts of the mind and which constitute the sensory or most external man also went away from Him is represented in this chapter by Lot separating himself from Abram, for Lot represents the sensory man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1543 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1543. That ‘Abram went up out of Egypt’ means away from facts which went away from the Lord is clear from the meaning of ‘Abram’ as one who represents the Lord, then from the meaning of ‘Egypt’ as knowledge, and also from the meaning of ‘going up’, for ‘going up’ is used when a rising up takes place from the lower things that are factual to the higher ones that are celestial. Consequently in the Word ‘going up from Egypt into the land of Canaan’, an expression that occurs frequently, embodies similar ideas.

AC (Elliott) n. 1544 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1544. That ‘Abram’ in the internal sense is the Lord, here when still a boy, and that ‘Egypt’ is knowledge, has been shown already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1545 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1545. ‘He and his wife’ means celestial truths which at that time resided with the Lord This becomes clear from the meaning of the pronoun ‘he’, which refers to Abram, as the Lord; and because it is the Lord, it is the celestial residing with Him, for a person is what he is by virtue of what resides with him. The Lord was the Lord from the celestial things that resided with Him, for He alone was so celestial as to be the celestial itself. Consequently ‘Abram’, and more so ‘Abraham’, means celestial things. Next, the matter may become clear from the meaning of ‘wife’ as truth joined to the celestial, as shown already in 1468. That they are celestial truths, or truths deriving from celestial things, is clear from the consideration that he is mentioned first and his wife next, for celestial truth is one thing and celestial truth another. Celestial truth has its origin in the celestial, while celestial truth has its origin in truth implanted in the celestial by means of cognitions.

AC (Elliott) n. 1546 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1546. ‘And everything he had’ means everything belonging to celestial things. This is now clear from what has been said above.

AC (Elliott) n. 1547 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1547. ‘And Lot with him’ means the power of sensory perception. A brief description of this meaning has been given already in 1428. Because a specific reference is made here to Lot, one needs to know exactly what he represents in the Lord. ‘Pharaoh’ represented facts, which at length ‘sent away’ the Lord, whereas ‘Lot’ represented things of the senses, by which are meant the external man and the pleasures he derives from sensory things, thus the most external things which usually captivate the mind in childhood and lead it away from the things that are good. For to the extent a person indulges in pleasures arising from evil desires he is drawn away from the celestial things that belong to love and charity. Indeed, present within those pleasures there is love originating in self and in the world, and with those loves celestial love cannot accord. Besides these however there are pleasures which, despite having similar external appearance, do accord completely with celestial things. For these see what has been stated already in 945, 994, 995, 997. Pleasures however that have their origins in evil desires must be brought under control and wiped out because they block the approach to celestial things. It is these pleasures, not those that accord with celestial things, that are meant in this chapter by Lot’s separation from Abram, the presence of those pleasures being meant here by ‘Lot with him’. In general however Lot means the external man, as will be evident from what follows.

AC (Elliott) n. 1548 sRef Gen@13 @1 S0′ 1548. ‘Towards the south’ means into celestial light This is clear from the meaning of ‘the south’ as a state of light as regards interiors, dealt with already in 1458. There are two states from which celestial light is received. The first is a state into which a person is introduced from earliest childhood, for it is well known that small children are in states of innocence and of goods stemming from love, which are the celestial things into which they are first brought by the Lord, and which are stored away in a person for use later in life and for his use when he enters the next life. These are what are called ‘the first remnants’ referred to several times already. The second state is one in which the individual is introduced into spiritual and celestial things by means of cognitions which have to be implanted in the celestial things with which he has been gifted since earliest childhood. In the Lord’s case they were implanted in these earliest celestial things which He now had. From these He received the light which is here called ‘the south’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1549 sRef Gen@13 @2 S0′ 1549. Verse 2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold.

‘Abram was very rich in cattle’ means the goods with which the Lord was at that time enriched. ‘Silver’ means truths. ‘And gold’ means goods deriving from truths.

AC (Elliott) n. 1550 sRef Gen@13 @2 S0′ 1550. That ‘Abram was very rich in cattle’ means goods is clear from the meaning of ‘cattle’ and ‘flock’ as good, dealt with already in 343 and 415.

AC (Elliott) n. 1551 sRef Dan@2 @32 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @2 S0′ sRef Dan@2 @33 S0′ 1551. That ‘silver’ means truths is clear from the meaning of ‘silver’ as truth. The most ancient people compared the goods and truths present in man to metals. Innermost or celestial goods which flow from love to the Lord they compared to gold, truths deriving from these to silver. Goods of a lower or natural kind however they compared to bronze, and truths of a lower kind to iron. Nor did they just compare them; they also called them such. This was the origin of periods of time being likened to those same metals and being called the golden, silver, bronze, and iron ages, for these followed in that order one after another. The golden age was the time of the Most Ancient Church, which was celestial man. The silver age was the time of the Ancient Church, which was spiritual man. The bronze age was the time of the Church that followed, and the iron age came after that. Similar things were also meant by the statue which Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream, whose head was of fine gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, and shins of iron, Dan. 2:32, 33. That periods of the Church were to follow one another in that order, and actually did so, is clear in that very chapter of the same prophet.

sRef Isa@60 @17 S2′ sRef Isa@55 @1 S2′ [2] That ‘silver’ in the internal sense of the Word wherever it is mentioned means truth, or in the contrary sense falsity, is clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver, and instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. And I will make peace your assessment, and righteousness your tax-collectors. Isa. 60:17.

Here it is evident what each metal means. The subject is the Lord’s Coming, His kingdom, and the celestial Church. ‘Instead of bronze, gold’ is celestial good in place of natural good; ‘instead of iron, silver’ is spiritual truth in place of natural truth; ‘instead of wood, bronze’ is natural good in place of bodily good; ‘instead of stone, iron’ is natural truth in place of truth acquired through the senses. In the same prophet,

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water, and he who has no money,* come, buy and eat! Isa. 55:1.

‘He who has no money’* is the person who does not know the truth but who nevertheless possesses the good that stems from charity, as is the case with many people inside the Church, and with gentiles outside it.

sRef Ezek@16 @13 S3′ sRef Isa@60 @9 S3′ sRef Ezek@28 @3 S3′ sRef Ezek@16 @17 S3′ sRef Ezek@28 @4 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

The islands will wait for Me, the ships of Tarshish at their head, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of Jehovah your God, and to the Holy One of Israel. Isa. 60:9.

This refers specifically to a new Church, or a Church among gentiles, and in general to the Lord’s kingdom. ‘Ships from Tarshish’ stands for cognitions, ‘silver’ for truths, and ‘gold’ for goods, which are those things they ‘will bring to the name of Jehovah’. In Ezekiel,

For your adornment you took vessels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and you made for yourselves figures of the male. Ezek. 16:17.

Here ‘gold’ stands for cognitions of celestial things, ‘silver’ of spiritual things. In the same prophet,

You were adorned with gold and silver, and your raiment was fine linen and silk, and embroidered cloth. Ezek. 16:13.

This refers to Jerusalem, by which the Lord’s Church is meant, whose adornment is being described in this manner. In the same prophet,

Behold, you who are wise, there is no secret they have hidden from you; by your wisdom and by your intelligence you have acquired riches for yourself, and you have acquired gold and silver in your treasuries. Ezek. 28:3, 4.

Here, in what is said in reference to Tyre, ‘gold’ is plainly identified with the riches of wisdom, and ‘silver’ with the riches of intelligence.

sRef Ex@3 @22 S4′ sRef Hag@2 @7 S4′ sRef Ps@12 @6 S4′ sRef Hag@2 @9 S4′ sRef Hag@2 @8 S4′ sRef Joel@3 @5 S4′ sRef Mal@3 @3 S4′ [4] In Joel,

You have taken My silver and My gold, and My good and desirable treasures you have carried into your temples. Joel 3:5.

This refers to Tyre, Sidon, and Philistia, which mean cognitions, and these are ‘the silver and the gold they took into their temples’. In Haggai,

The elect of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory. Mine is the silver, and Mine is the gold. The glory of this latter house will be greater than that of the former. Hagg. 2:7-9.

This refers to the Lord’s Church to which ‘gold and silver’ have reference. In Malachi,

He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi. Mal. 3:3.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord. In David,

The words of Jehovah are pure words, silver refined in an earthen crucible, poured seven times. Ps. 12:6.

‘Silver purified seven times’ stands for Divine truth. At the time of their exodus out of Egypt the children of Israel were commanded that every woman should ask of her neighbour, and of her who sojourned in her house, vessels of silver and vessels of gold and garments, and that they should put them on their sons and on their daughters, and so despoil the Egyptians, Exod. 3:22; 11:2, 3; 12:35, 36. Anyone may see from the children of Israel would never have been ordered to steal and despoil the Egyptians of those possessions in that way if these did not represent some arcana. But what those arcana are may become clear from the meaning of ‘silver and gold, garments, and Egypt’, and from the fact that what these possessions represented is similar to the words here ‘rich in the silver and gold from Egypt’, used in reference to Abram.

sRef Deut@7 @26 S5′ sRef Isa@31 @7 S5′ sRef Jer@10 @9 S5′ sRef Jer@10 @8 S5′ sRef Ex@20 @26 S5′ sRef Deut@7 @25 S5′ [5] Just as ‘silver’ means truth so in a contrary sense it means falsity, for people under the influence of falsity imagine falsity to be the truth, as is also clear in the Prophets. In Moses,

You shall not covet the silver and the gold of the nations, nor take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to Jehovah your God. You shall utterly detest it. Deut. 7:25, 26.

‘The gold of the nations’ stands for evils, and ‘their silver’ for falsities. In the same author,

You shall not make gods of silver to be with Me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. Exod. 20:23.

In the internal sense these words mean nothing other than falsities and evil desires, falsities being meant by ‘gods of silver’, and evil desires by ‘gods of gold’. In Isaiah,

On that day everyone will spurn his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you – a sin. Isa. 31:7.

‘Idols of silver and idols of gold’ stands for similar things that are false and evil ‘Which your hands have made’ stands for what is a product of the proprium. In Jeremiah,

They are foolish and stupid; that wood is a way of learning vanities! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the smith and of the hands of the moulder. Their clothing is violet and purple These are all the work of the wise. Jer. 10:8, 9.

Here ‘silver’ and ‘gold’ quite clearly stand for similar things that are false and evil.
* or silver

AC (Elliott) n. 1552 sRef Gen@13 @2 S0′ 1552. ‘And gold’ means goods deriving from truths. This is clear from the meaning of ‘gold’ as celestial good, or the good of wisdom and love, as is clear from what has just been shown and also from what was shown previously in 113. That here they are goods deriving from truths follows from what was stated in the previous chapter about the Lord’s joining intellectual truths to celestial things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1553 sRef Gen@13 @3 S0′ 1553. Verse 3 And he went in accordance with his journeys from the south and even to Bethel, even to the place where his tent had been at the start, between Bethel and Ai.

‘He went in accordance with his journeys’ means as accorded with order. ‘From the south and even to Bethel’ means from the light of intelligence into the light of wisdom. ‘Even to the place where his tent had been before’ means towards the holy things which were there before He had been endowed with cognitions. ‘Between Bethel and Ai’ means here, as previously, the celestial and the worldly aspects of cognitions.

AC (Elliott) n. 1554 sRef Gen@13 @3 S0′ 1554. ‘He went in accordance with his journeys’ means as accorded with order. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘journeys’, or travels, as further advances, dealt with in 1457; and because those advances were made in accordance with order, ‘journeys’ here has no other meaning. From earliest childhood the Lord advanced, wholly according to Divine order, towards celestial things and into celestial things. The nature of this order is described in the internal sense by Abram. It is according to that same order also that all who are being created anew by the Lord are brought on their way, though with men that order varies according to individual nature and character. But the order by which a person is brought on his way while being regenerated no mortal being knows, not even the angels except in vaguest outline; only the Lord knows it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1555 sRef Gen@13 @3 S0′ 1555. ‘From the south and even to Bethel’ means from the light of intelligence into the light of wisdom. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the south’ as the light of intelligence, or what amounts to the same, a state of light as regards interiors, dealt with already in 1458, and from the meaning of ‘Bethel’ as celestial light having its origin in cognitions, dealt with already in 1453. The expression ‘light of intelligence’ describes that light which is acquired through cognitions of the truths and goods of faith, whereas the light of wisdom is the light of life which is acquired from the light of intelligence. The light of intelligence has regard to the intellectual part of the mind, or to the understanding, whereas the light of wisdom has regard to the will part, or to life.

[2] Few if any people know how a person is led to true wisdom. Intelligence is not wisdom but it leads to wisdom, for having an understanding of what truth and good are is not the same as being a true and good person; but being wise is. Wisdom can be used only in reference to a person’s life, to what kind of person he is. To wisdom, or life, he is introduced through coming to know and being aware, that is, through knowledge and cognitions. With every person there are two parts of the mind – the will and the understanding – the will being the primary part and the understanding the secondary; and the nature of his life after death is as the nature of the will part, not the understanding part, of his mind. A person’s will is being formed by the Lord from infancy on into childhood, and this is achieved through the innocence that has been instilled into him, and through the exercise of charity towards parents, nursemaids, and other young children of his own age, and through further things that he is quite unaware of and which are celestial. Unless those celestial things were first instilled in a person while an infant and child he could not possibly become truly human. In this way the first degree is formed.

[3] But because a person is not human unless he is provided with understanding as well, will alone does not make a human being but understanding and will together. And understanding cannot be acquired except by means of knowledge and cognitions, and therefore he has to be endowed with these step by step from childhood onwards. In this way the second degree is formed. Once the understanding part of the mind has been furnished with knowledge and cognitions, especially cognitions of truth and good, he is for the first time able to undergo regeneration. And when he is being regenerated, truths and goods are implanted by the Lord by means of cognitions within the celestial things he has been granted by the Lord since infancy. The result is that the ideas now in his understanding make one with those celestial things. And once the Lord has joined them together so, he is endowed with charity from which he starts to act and which constitutes conscience. This is how he comes to receive new life for the first time, something that is achieved step by step. The light of this life is called wisdom, which then plays the leading role and is set above intelligence. In this way the third degree is formed. If this has happened to a person during his lifetime he goes on being perfected in the next life. These considerations show what the light of intelligence is, and what the light of wisdom.

AC (Elliott) n. 1556 sRef Gen@13 @3 S0′ 1556. ‘Even to the place where his tent had been before’ means towards the holy things which were there before He had been endowed with cognitions. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a tent’ as the holy things of faith, dealt with already in 414, 1452, and from what has just been stated. Thus it was an advance towards the celestial things which the Lord already possessed before He was endowed with knowledge and cognitions, as is clear from what is said in verse 8 of the previous chapter, ‘And Abram removed from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent’. This happened before he travelled to Egypt, that is, before the Lord was endowed with knowledge and cognitions.

AC (Elliott) n. 1557 sRef Gen@13 @3 S0′ 1557. ‘Between Bethel and Ai’ means the celestial and the worldly aspects of cognitions. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Bethel’ as the light of wisdom coming through cognitions, 1453, and from the meaning of ‘Ai’ as the light coming from worldly things, also dealt with in 1453. From what has been stated there the nature of the Lord’s state at this time becomes clear, namely a childhood state – which is such that worldly things are present. In fact worldly things cannot be dispelled until truth and good are implanted in celestial things by means of cognitions, for a person cannot possibly tell celestial things from worldly until he comes to know and is aware of what the celestial is, and of what the worldly is. Cognitions turn a general and obscure idea into a clear and distinct one, and the clearer the idea is made by means of cognitions the more can worldly things be separated. That childhood state however is still holy because it is innocent.

[2] A state of ignorance or lack of knowledge in no way rules out holiness when-there is innocence in it, for holiness dwells in ignorance that is innocent. With everybody apart from the Lord, holiness is unable to dwell anywhere else than in ignorance. If it does not dwell in this it is not holiness. Among the angels themselves, who possess a supreme light of intelligence and wisdom, holiness still dwells within ignorance, for they know and acknowledge that of themselves they know nothing and that whatever they do know comes from the Lord. They also know and acknowledge that all their knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom are as nothing in comparison with the Lord’s infinite knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, thus that all of theirs is lack of knowledge. Anyone who does not acknowledge that there is an infinite number of things he does not know compared with what he does know cannot possess the holiness present with angels that goes with ignorance or lack of knowledge. This holiness that goes with ignorance does not consist in knowing less than others but in the acknowledgement that from oneself one does not know anything at all, and that the things one does not know are infinite in comparison with the things one does know. But above all it entails regarding factual knowledge and intellectual concepts as being of small importance compared with celestial things, that is, things constituting the understanding as being of small importance compared with those constituting life. In the Lord’s case, because He was to join human things to Divine things He advanced according to order and now reached first of all that celestial state such as had been His when a boy, in which state worldly things also were present. By passing on from this into a state even more celestial, He at length came into the celestial state of infancy, in which state He fully joined the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.

AC (Elliott) n. 1558 sRef Gen@13 @4 S0′ 1558. Verse 4 To the place of the altar that he made there in the beginning; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

‘To the place of the altar’ means the holy things of worship. ‘That he made in the beginning’ means which He had when a boy. ‘And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah’ means internal worship in that state.

AC (Elliott) n. 1559 sRef Gen@13 @4 S0′ 1559. That ‘to the place of the altar’ means the holy things of worship is clear from the meaning of ‘an altar’ as the chief representative used in worship, dealt with in 921.

AC (Elliott) n. 1560 sRef Gen@13 @4 S0′ 1560. ‘That he made in the beginning’ means which He had when a boy. This is clear from what has been stated at verse 8 of the previous chapter. The expressions ‘in the beginning’ here, and ‘at the start’ in the previous verse are used, because it was before the Lord had been endowed with facts and cognitions. Every state that precedes a person’s reception of instruction is ‘the start’ and when he commences to receive it, it is ‘the beginning’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1561 1561. ‘And there Abram called on the name of Jehovah’ means internal worship in that state. This is clear from the meaning of ‘calling on the name of Jehovah’, dealt with already in 440 and 1455. The reason why here mention is also made of an altar and why, as likewise in verse 8 of the previous chapter, the phrase ‘he called on the name of Jehovah’ is used, is that they are similar states. They differ in that the latter compared with the former is a state of light. When cognitions are implanted in the former state, which has been described, they make it one of light. And when truth and good are joined by means of cognitions to the former celestial state, its activity is described by the words used here. Worship itself is nothing else than a particular activity that occurs because of the celestial within. The celestial itself can never exist without activity. Worship is the prime activity, for this is how the celestial expresses itself because it finds joy in it. All good springing from love and charity constitutes the essential activity itself.

AC (Elliott) n. 1562 sRef Gen@13 @5 S0′ 1562. Verse 5 And Lot also who went with Abram had flocks and herds and tents.

‘And Lot also who went with Abram’ means the external man residing in the Lord ‘He had flocks and herds and tents’ means the things that the external man has in abundance, ‘flocks and herds’ being the possessions of the external man, ‘tents’ the details of his worship, which were separating themselves from the internal man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1563 sRef Gen@13 @5 S0′ 1563. That ‘Lot also who went with Abram’ means the external man residing in the Lord is clear from the representation of ‘Lot’ as the sensory man, or what amounts to the same, the external man. It is well known to everyone in the Church that everybody has an internal and an external, or what amounts to the same, that man is internal and external. For these matters, see what has appeared already in 978, 994, 995, 1015. The external man receives his life principally from the internal, that is, from his spirit or soul. From there comes his life itself in general, which life cannot be received by the external man in a detailed and distinct manner unless his organic vessels are opened which are to serve as recipients of the particular and individual parts of the internal man. Those organic vessels that are to serve as recipients are not opened except by means of the senses, chiefly those of hearing and sight. And as they are so opened the internal man is able to flow in with the particular and individual parts. They are opened by means of the senses through facts and cognitions, as well as through pleasures and delights – the former being things of the understanding, the latter those of the will

[2] From these considerations it becomes clear that as an inevitable result facts and cognitions which cannot agree with spiritual truths will worm their way into the external man, and that pleasures and delights which cannot agree with celestial goods will worm their way in, even as all those things do which regard bodily, worldly, and earthly things as ends in themselves- which things when regarded as ends drag the external man outwards and downwards and so remove the external man from the internal man. For this reason unless such things have first been dispelled the internal man cannot in any way agree with the external, and therefore before the internal man is able to agree with the external such things have to be removed. The removal or separation of those things in the Lord is represented and meant by Lot’s separation from Abram.

AC (Elliott) n. 1564 sRef Gen@13 @5 S0′ 1564. ‘He had flocks and herds and tents’ means the things that the external man has in abundance. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘flocks, herds, and tents’ to be dealt with immediately below. Here they mean the possessions of the external man, for as has been stated, Lot represents the Lord’s external man. Two types of things exist with the external man, namely those which can agree with the internal and those which cannot. ‘Flocks, herds, and tents’ here means those which cannot agree, as is clear from what follows in verse 7: ‘And there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsman.’

AC (Elliott) n. 1565 sRef Jer@49 @28 S0′ sRef Zeph@2 @7 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @5 S0′ sRef Zeph@2 @5 S0′ sRef Jer@51 @23 S0′ sRef Zeph@2 @6 S0′ sRef Jer@49 @29 S0′ 1565. That ‘flocks and herds’ are the possessions of the external man becomes clear from the meaning of ‘flocks and herds’ as goods, dealt with in 343 and 415. Here however since it is said they belonged to Lot, who was being separated from Abram, they mean those things that were to be separated, thus things that were not good are meant. That ‘flocks and herds’ also means things that are not good becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Zephaniah,

I will cause destruction in you, that you will be without inhabitant; and the region of the sea will be dwellings dug out [for shepherds] and folds for the flock. Zeph. 2:5, 6.

In Jeremiah,

I will disperse in you the shepherd and the flock, and I will disperse in you the farmer and his team. Jer. 51:23.

In the same prophet,

Go up to Arabia, and lay waste the sons of the east. Their tents and their flocks shall they take. Jer. 49:28, 29.

AC (Elliott) n. 1566 sRef Jer@6 @3 S0′ sRef Hos@9 @6 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @5 S0′ sRef Hab@3 @7 S0′ sRef Hab@3 @8 S0′ sRef Ps@78 @51 S0′ sRef Ps@84 @10 S0′ 1566. That ‘tents’ are his worship which was separating itself from the internal man becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a tent’ as the holiness of worship, 414, and also from the representation of ‘Lot’ as the external man to which tents, or worship, have reference. That ‘tents’ in the contrary sense means worship that is not holy also becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Hosea,

The nettle will inherit those things, the bramble will be in their tents. Hosea 9:6.

In Habakkuk,

I saw the tents of Cushan, the curtains of the land of Midian shook, Jehovah was angry with the rivers. Hab. 3:7, 8.

In Jeremiah,

Shepherds and their flocks will come against the daughter of Zion; they will pitch their tents against her round about; they will graze, each off his own space. Jer. 6:3.

In David.

He smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of strength in the tents of Ham. Ps. 78:51.

In the same author,

I have chosen to stand by the threshold in the house of my God rather than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. Ps. 84:10.

AC (Elliott) n. 1567 sRef Gen@13 @6 S0′ 1567. Verse 6 And the land was unable to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their acquisitions were great, and they could not dwell together.

‘The land was unable to bear them, that they might dwell together’ means that the things which belonged to the celestial internals could not remain together with the former ones. ‘For their acquisitions were great, and they could not dwell together’ means the things that were acquired by the internal man could not agree with those acquired in the external.

AC (Elliott) n. 1568 sRef Gen@13 @6 S0′ 1568. That ‘the land was unable to bear them, that they might dwell together’ means that the things which belonged to the celestial internals could not remain together with the former ones, that is to say, with those things meant here by ‘Lot’, is evident from the following considerations: ‘Abram’, as has been stated, represents the Lord, and at this point His Internal Man, while ‘Lot’ represents the external, and at this point the things that had to be separated from the external Man, with which things internals could not dwell together. In the external man there are many things with which the internal man is able to dwell together, such as affections for good and the delights and pleasures arising from them, for those delights and pleasures are the effects of the goods of the internal man and of his joys and happiness. When these are the effects they correspond perfectly, for in that case they belong to the internal man and not to the external man. For an effect, as is well known, is not the product of an effect but of an efficient cause. Take, for example, charity: when this shines out of the face, it is produced not by the face but by the charity within that so controls the face and produces the effect. Or take, for example, the innocence seen in the expressions on small children’s faces, in the ways they act, and so in the games they play with one another: that innocence does not belong essentially to their expressions or actions but is derived from innocence from the Lord which flows in through their souls. Thus their expressions and actions are effects; so also with every other example taken.

[2] From these considerations it is clear that many things exist with the external man which are able to dwell or accord with the internal. But there are also many things which do not accord, that is, with which the internal man is unable to dwell, namely all that streams forth from self-love and love of the world; for everything resulting from these loves regards self or the world as its end in view. With these, celestial things that go with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour cannot agree, for celestial things regard the Lord as the end in view, and His kingdom and all that belongs to Him and His kingdom similarly as ends. The ends which self-love and love of the world have in view look to things of a more external or lower kind, whereas those which love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour have in view look to things of a more internal or higher kind. From these considerations it becomes clear that they are too discordant ever to remain together.

[3] To know what produces a correspondence and agreement of the external man with the internal and what produces disagreement one has only to reflect on the ends, or what amounts to the same, on the loves by which one is ruled; for people’s loves constitute the ends they have in view, indeed whatever is loved by them is looked upon as an end. Such reflexion will show what one’s life is really like and what it will be like after death, since it is from a person’s ends, or what amounts to the same, his ruling loves, that his life is formed. The life of each individual is never otherwise. If the things which do not agree with eternal life, that is, with spiritual and celestial life – which is eternal life – are not removed during a person’s lifetime they have to be removed in the next life. But if they are irremovable that person is bound to be unhappy for ever.

[4] These things have now been mentioned so that it may be known that in the external man there are things which agree with the internal and things which do not, that those which do agree cannot possibly remain together with those that do not, and also that those things in the external man which do agree come from the internal man, that is, from the Lord by way of the internal man; as for example, in the case of a face radiant with charity, or a charitable face, or in the case of the innocence seen in the expressions on the faces and in the actions of young children, as has been stated. The things which do not accord however belong to man and his proprium. From this one may know what ‘the land was unable to bear them, that they might dwell together’ means. Here, in the internal sense, the Lord is the subject; and since the Lord is the subject so also is every likeness and image of Him, namely His kingdom, the Church, and every member of that kingdom or of the Church; and therefore here the things residing with men are presented. These same things that resided with the Lord before He overcame evil, that is, the devil and hell, by His Own power, and so became celestial, Divine, and Jehovah even as to His Human Essence, must be seen in relation to His state at that time.

AC (Elliott) n. 1569 sRef Gen@13 @6 S0′ 1569. ‘For their acquisitions were great, and they could not dwell together’ means the things that were acquired by the internal man could not agree with those acquired in the external. This becomes clear from what has just been stated.

AC (Elliott) n. 1570 sRef Gen@13 @7 S0′ 1570. Verse 7 And there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land.

‘There was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen’ means that the internal man and the external did not agree, ‘Abram’s herdsmen’ being used to mean celestial things, ‘Lot’s herdsmen’ things of the senses. ‘And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land’ means evils and falsities in the external man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1571 sRef Gen@13 @7 S0′ 1571. That ‘there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen’ means that the internal man and the external did not agree is clear from the meaning of ‘herdsmen’* as those who teach, and so things that are connected with worship, as everyone may well know, and therefore there is no need to pause and confirm these matters from the Word. These words have regard to the things called ‘tents’ in verse 5 above, which, as pointed out there, mean worship. The words used in the following verse 6 have regard to things called ‘flocks and cattle’ in verse 5, which are possessions or acquisitions, as was also pointed out there. Because worship is the subject here, namely that of the Internal Man and of the external Man, it is said here, since the two were no longer in agreement, that ‘there was strife between the herdsman’; for ‘Abram’ represents the internal man and ‘Lot’ the external man. It is above all in worship that one can recognize the whole nature of any disagreement that exists between the internal man and the external man; indeed it can be recognized in every detail of worship. When the internal man wishes to make the kingdom of God his ends in view and the external wishes to make the world his, there is consequently a divergence which shows itself in worship, and indeed so plainly that even the slightest divergence is noticed in heaven. These are the considerations meant by ‘strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsman’. And the reason is added, namely that ‘the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then in the land’.
* The same word (pastor) is used for a herdsman as for a shepherd.

AC (Elliott) n. 1572 sRef Gen@13 @7 S0′ 1572. That ‘Abram’s herdsmen’ is used to mean the celestial things that belong to the internal man and ‘Lot’s herdsmen’ to mean the things of the senses that belong to the external man is clear from what has been stated already. By the celestial things meant by ‘Abram’s herdsmen’ one is to understand the celestial things in worship which belong to the internal man, and by ‘Lot’s herdsmen’ one is to understand the things of the senses in worship which belong to the external man and which do not agree with the celestial things of the internal man’s worship. The implications of all this are clear from what has been shown already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1573 sRef Gen@13 @7 S0′ 1573. ‘And the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land’ means evils and falsities in the external man. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘the Canaanite’ as hereditary evil from the mother in the external man, dealt with already in 1444, and from the meaning of ‘the Perizzite’ as derivative falsity, dealt with in what follows below. That hereditary evil from the mother resided with the Lord in His external Man, see what has been stated already in 1414 and 1444. The fact that falsity resulted from that hereditary evil follows, for where there is hereditary evil falsity is present also. The one is born from the other, but falsity from evil cannot be born until a person has been endowed with facts and cognitions. Evil has nothing to work on or flow into except facts and cognitions. In this way evil belonging to the will part of the mind is turned into falsity in the understanding part, and therefore this falsity also was hereditary because it was born from what was hereditary, though not the falsity that is based on false principles. But it existed in the external man as that which the internal man could see was falsity.

[2] Because hereditary evil from the mother was present before the Lord had been endowed with facts and cognitions, that is, before ‘Abram sojourned in Egypt’ it is said in verse 6 of the previous chapter that ‘the Canaanite was in the land’ but not that the Perizzite was there, whereas in the present verse, now that He had been endowed with facts and cognitions, it is said that ‘the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt in the land’. From these considerations it is clear that ‘the Canaanite’ means evil and ‘the Perizzite’ falsity. It is also clear from the consideration that the mention of the Canaanite and the Perizzite does not bear any relation to the historical events among which it occurs, for nothing is said about either of them in what has gone before or in what follows. The same is also true with the mention of the Canaanite in verse 6 of the previous chapter. From this it is evident that some arcanum lies concealed here which one cannot know except from the internal sense.

[3] To some it may come as a surprise to say that hereditary evil from the mother was present with the Lord, but as such evil is spoken of so plainly here, and as in the internal sense the Lord is the subject, there can be no doubt that it was present. For no human being can possibly be born from another human being without deriving evil from him or her. But the hereditary evil that is derived from the father is one thing, that from the mother is another. Hereditary evil from the father is more internal and remains for ever, since it can never be rooted out. Such evil did not exist with the Lord because He was born of Jehovah as His Father, and thus was Divine, or Jehovah, as regards internals. But hereditary evil from the mother belongs to the external man, as it did with the Lord, and it is called ‘the Canaanite in the land’, and derivative falsity ‘the Perizzite’. The Lord was in this sense born as any other, and had weaknesses as any other has them.

sRef Luke@4 @13 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @14 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @1 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @2 S4′ [4] That the Lord derived hereditary evil from the mother is quite clear from the fact that He underwent temptations. Nobody can ever be tempted who has no evil, for it is the evil present with man that tempts and by means of which he is tempted. That the Lord was tempted, undergoing temptations so serious that no other could ever endure one ten thousandth part of them, that He suffered all alone, and by His own power overcame evil, or the devil and the whole of hell, is also clear. Those temptations are spoken of in Luke as follows,

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. He was tempted for forty days by the devil, so that He ate nothing in those days. But after the devil had ended every temptation he departed from Him for a time. From there He returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. Luke 4:1, 2, 13, 14.

sRef Mark@1 @13 S5′ sRef Luke@22 @44 S5′ sRef Mark@1 @12 S5′ [5] And in Mark,

The Spirit, driving Jesus, made Him go away into the wilderness; and He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted; and He was with the wild beasts. Mark 1:12, 13.

Here ‘beasts’ means hell. In addition to this He is spoken of as being tempted to the point of death, so that His sweat was [like] drops of blood,

And when He was in agony He prayed more earnestly; and His sweat became as great drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Luke 22:44.

[6] No angel can possibly be tempted by the devil, the reason being that as an angel abides in the Lord, evil spirits cannot approach him, even when they are a long way off, but are instantly seized with horror and fright. Much less could hell have approached the Lord if He had been born Divine, that is, without evil from the mother clinging to Him.

sRef John@8 @46 S7′ [7] That the Lord bore the iniquities and evils of the human race is also a statement commonly made by preachers, yet the diversion of iniquities and evils to Himself can never come about except through a hereditary channel. The Divine cannot take evil upon Itself, and therefore in order that He might overcome evil by His own powers – which no human being has ever been able to do or ever can do – and in so doing might make Himself alone Righteousness, He was willing to be born like any other. Otherwise there would have been no need for Him to be born at all, for the Lord could have assumed Human Essence without going through the process of birth, as He had indeed sometimes done when seen by members of the Most Ancient Church, and also by prophets. Therefore in order that He might be furnished with evil against which He was to fight and over which He was to conquer, and in so doing might join together in Himself the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, He came into the world.

[8] In the Lord however there was no evil of His own, that is, He committed no actual evil, as He Himself also says in John,

Who of you is going to convict Me of sin? John 8:46.

From these considerations it may now be quite evident what is meant by the statement immediately preceding – ‘there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsman’. The reason was that ‘the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling in the land’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1574 sRef Gen@13 @7 S0′ sRef Gen@34 @30 S1′ 1574. That ‘the Canaanite’ means hereditary evil from the mother in, the external man has been shown already in 1444, but that ‘the Perizzite’ means falsity deriving from evil is clear from other places in the Word where the Perizzite is mentioned, as in the following regarding Jacob,

Jacob said to Simeon and to Levi, You have brought trouble on me by making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and smite me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house. Gen. 34:30.

Here similarly ‘the Canaanite’ means evil and ‘the Perizzite’ falsity.

sRef Josh@17 @15 S2′ [2] In Joshua,

Joshua said to the sons of Joseph, If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, if Mount Ephraim is too narrow for you. Josh 17:15.

Here ‘the Perizzites’ means false assumptions and ‘the Rephaim’ false persuasions which they were to wipe out, for ‘Mount Ephraim’ in the internal sense means intelligence.

sRef Judg@1 @5 S3′ sRef Judg@1 @2 S3′ sRef Judg@1 @3 S3′ sRef Judg@1 @4 S3′ sRef Judg@1 @1 S3′ [3] In the Book of Judges,

After the death of Joshua the children of Israel inquired of Jehovah, saying, Who will go up for us against the Canaanite to start and fight against him? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand. And Judah said to Simeon his brother, Go up with me into my lot, and let us fight against the Canaanite, and I will also go with you into your lot And Simeon went with him, and Judah went up. and Jehovah gave the Canaanite and the Perizzite into their hand. Judg. 1:1-5.

Here ‘Judah’ also represents the Lord as regards celestial things, and ‘Simeon’ as regards derivative spiritual things. ‘Canaanite’ is the evil, and ‘Perizzite’ the falsity, that were overcome. This is how this reply, or Divine oracle, is to be understood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1575 sRef Gen@13 @8 S0′ 1575. Verse 8 And Abram said to Lot, Let there not be strife, now, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are men who are brothers.

‘Abram said to Lot’ means that the internal man so addressed the external. ‘Let there not be strife, now, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen’ means that there ought to be no disagreement between the two ‘For we are men who are brothers’ means that they were in themselves united.

AC (Elliott) n. 1576 sRef Gen@13 @8 S0′ 1576. That ‘Abram said to Lot’ means that the internal man so addressed the external is clear from the representation of ‘Abram’ here as the internal man and from the representation of ‘Lot’ as the external man that was to be separated. The reason ‘Abram’ represents the internal man is that he is so relative to Lot, who is that element in the external man that was to be separated. In the external man, as has been stated, there are things that agree and those that do not. Here ‘Lot’ is those that do not agree, and therefore those that do are ‘Abram’, including those in the external man, for the latter form a single entity with the internal man and belong to the internal.

AC (Elliott) n. 1577 sRef Gen@13 @8 S0′ 1577. That ‘let there not be strife, now, between me and you, land between my herdsmen and your herdsmen]’ means that there ought to be no disagreement between the two becomes clear from what has been stated already. This agreement, or unity, of the internal man and the external man contains more arcana than can ever be fully told. The internal man and the external man have never been united in anyone – for it never has been possible nor is it ever possible for them to be united – except in the Lord; and this is a further reason why He came into the world. With people who are regenerate the internal man and the external man appear as though they are united; but in fact they are the Lord’s, for the things that are in agreement are the Lord’s, whereas those that are not are man’s.

[2] There are two sides to the internal man, namely the celestial and the spiritual, and these two form a single entity if the spiritual has its origin in the celestial. Or what amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man known as good and truth. These two form a single entity if truth has its origin in good. Or what also amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man, love and faith. These two form a single entity if faith has its origin in love. Or what yet again amounts to the same, there are the two sides to the internal man, will and understanding. These two form a single entity if the understanding has its origin in the will. The light from the sun can serve to make the point plainer still. If both warmth and light are present in light from the sun, as they are in spring-time, all things consequently start to grow and thrive. But if, as in winter, there is no warmth in the light from the sun all things at that time consequently fade and die.

[3] From this it is clear what constitutes the internal man. What constitutes the external man however is evident from the fact that with the external man everything is natural; for the external man is one and the same as the natural man. The internal man is said to be united to the external when the celestial- spiritual comprising the internal man flows into the natural comprising the external man and causes them to act as one. The natural as a consequence becomes celestial and spiritual as well, though it is a lower variety of celestial and spiritual. Or what amounts to the same, the external man as a consequence becomes celestial and spiritual as well, though it is a more exterior variety of celestial and spiritual man.

[4] The internal man and the external man are completely distinct and separate since celestial and spiritual things are what move the internal man but natural things the external man. But although they are distinct they are nevertheless united, that is to say, when the celestial-spiritual comprising the internal man flows into the natural comprising the external man and reorganizes it as its own. In none but the Lord has the Internal Man been united to the external Man. It has happened to nobody else except insofar as the Lord has united and does unite them. It is solely love and charity, that is, good, which effects union, and there can never be any love and charity, that is, any good, unless it comes from the Lord. Such is the union which these words of Abram are meant to convey – ‘let there not be strife, now, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are men who are brothers’.

[5] The words ‘between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen’ are used for the following reason: just as the internal man has two elements, namely the celestial and the spiritual which, as has been stated, form a single entity, so too does the external man. The celestial side of the external man is called natural good, the spiritual side natural truth. ‘Let there not be strife between me and you’ has regard to good – that is, let there be no conflict between good in the internal man and good in the external, while ‘let there be no strife between my herdsmen and your herdsmen’ has regard to truth – that is, let there be no conflict between truth in the internal man and truth in the external.

AC (Elliott) n. 1578 sRef Gen@13 @8 S0′ 1578. That ‘we are men who are brothers’ means they were in themselves united is clear from the meaning of ‘a man who is a brother’ as union, and indeed the union of truth and good.

AC (Elliott) n. 1579 sRef Gen@13 @9 S0′ 1579. Verse 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself, now, from me. If you go to the left then I will go to the right, but if you go to the right I will go to the left.

‘Is not the whole land before you?’ means all good. ‘Separate yourself, now, from me’ means that it cannot manifest itself unless that which does not accord is reduced to nothing. ‘If you go to the left then I will go to the right, but if you go to the right I will go to the left’ means separation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1580 sRef Gen@13 @9 S0′ 1580. That ‘is not the whole land before you?’ means all good is clear from the meaning in the good sense of ‘land’, here ‘the land of Canaan’, as the celestial, and therefore goodness, dealt with already in 566, 620, 636, 662. Here the internal man addresses the external man, or rather addresses these things in the external man which do not agree with the internal, addressing them in the way that a person is accustomed to do when he detects some evil present in himself from which he wishes to be separated, as happens in times of temptation and conflict. It is the well known experience of those who have undergone temptations and conflicts to detect within themselves things that disagree, from which they cannot be separated as long as conflict exists. Yet they still desire such a separation; indeed they sometimes desire it so much that they are furious with that evil and want to drive it out. These are the things meant here.

AC (Elliott) n. 1581 sRef Gen@13 @9 S0′ 1581. That ‘separate yourself, now, from me’ means that it cannot manifest itself unless that which does not accord is reduced to nothing is clear from what has now been stated, namely that the internal man wants that in the external which does not agree with the internal to separate itself. For until it has been separated the good which flows in constantly from the internal man, that is, from the Lord by way of the internal man, cannot manifest itself. With regard to the separation however it should be realized that it is not a separating but a dying down. In nobody with the exception of the Lord can evil that is in the external man be separated, for once a person has acquired something it stays with him. But it does seem to be separated when it dies down, for when it dies down it seems to be reduced to nothing. Moreover it is the Lord alone who is responsible for it so dying down as to be seemingly reduced to nothing. And when it does in this way die down, goods for the first time flow in from the Lord and move the external man. The state in which angels live is such as this. All they are conscious of is that evil has been separated from them, but in fact it is purely a withholding from evil and thus a dying down in such a way as to be seemingly reduced to nothing. Consequently it is an appearance, which angels also recognize when they reflect on the matter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1582 sRef Gen@13 @9 S0′ 1582. ‘If you go to the left then I will go to the right, and if you go to the right I will go to the left’ means separation. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the right’ and of ‘the left’. Right and left are purely relative terms, for neither of them is a definite region or definite place, as becomes clear from the fact that east and west, and south and north, can be to the right or to the left depending on the direction towards which a person is looking. So too with regard to a place. Nor could ‘to the right’ or ‘to the left’ be used of the land of Canaan except as relative terms. Wherever the Lord is, that is the centre, and right and left are reckoned from there. Thus whether Abram, who represented the Lord, moved in this direction or in that, his representative character went with him. And the same was true of the land, whether Abram was in the land of Canaan or whether he was somewhere else. It is like the most distinguished person at table. The place where he sits is the most important, and the other places are to the right and left of it. ‘Going to the right or to the left’ therefore was a phrase expressing a right of choice and by which was meant separation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1583 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1583. Verse 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and he saw all the plain of Jordan, that the whole of it was well-watered, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar.

‘And Lot lifted up his eyes’ means that the external man received light from the internal. ‘And he saw all the plain of Jordan’ means the goods and truths that resided with the external man. ‘That the whole of it was well-watered’ means that they are able to grow there. ‘Before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah’ means before the external man was destroyed by desires for evil and by persuasions of falsity. ‘Like the garden of Jehovah’ means rational concepts in the external man. ‘Like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’ means facts acquired from affections for good. These statements mean that the external Man appeared to the Lord as it is in its beauty when joined to the Internal Man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1584 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1584. That ‘Lot lifted up his eyes’ means that the external man received light from the internal is clear from the meaning of ‘lifting up the eyes’, which is seeing, in the internal sense, perceiving. Here ‘lifting up the eyes’ means receiving light, for this expression is used in reference to Lot, or the external man; and by perceiving the nature of the External Man when joined to the Internal Man, that is, the nature of its beauty, the external man receives light from the internal and possesses the Divine vision that is the subject here. Nor can there be any doubt that when He was a boy, the Lord as regards His external Man frequently had such Divine vision, for He alone was to join the external Man to the internal Man. The External Man was His Human Essence, while the Internal Man was His Divine Essence.

AC (Elliott) n. 1585 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1585. ‘And he saw all the plain of Jordan’ means the goods and truths that resided with the external man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a plain’ and of ‘the Jordan’. In the internal sense ‘the plain surrounding the Jordan’ means the external man as regards all his goods and truths. The reason the plain of Jordan has this meaning is that the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan. ‘The land of Canaan’, as stated and shown already, means the Lord’s kingdom and Church, and in particular its celestial and spiritual things; this also explains why it was called the Holy Land, and the heavenly Canaan. And because it means the Lord’s kingdom and Church, it means in the highest sense the Lord Himself, who is the All in all of His kingdom and of His Church.

[2] For this reason all things in the land of Canaan were representative. Those in the midst of the land, or that were inmost, represented His internal Man – Mount Zion and Jerusalem, for example, representing respectively celestial things and spiritual things. More outlying districts represented things more remote from internals. And the most outlying districts, or those which formed the boundaries, represented the external man. There were several boundaries to the land of Canaan, but in general they were the two rivers Euphrates and Jordan, and also the Sea,* for which reason the Euphrates and the Jordan represented external things. Here therefore ‘the plain of Jordan’ means, as it also represents, all things residing in the external man. The meaning of the land of Canaan is similar when used in reference to the Lord’s kingdom in heaven, to the Lord’s Church on earth, to the member of that kingdom or Church, or abstractly to the celestial things of love, and so on.

sRef Jer@49 @19 S3′ sRef Jer@49 @17 S3′ sRef Ps@42 @6 S3′ [3] Almost all the cities therefore, and indeed all the mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, and other features in the land of Canaan, were representative. The river Euphrates, being a boundary, represented, as shown already in 120, sensory evidence and facts that belong to the external man, and so too did the Jordan and the plain of Jordan, as becomes clear from the following places: In David,

O my God, my soul bows itself down within me;** therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan, and the Hermons from the little mountain. Ps 42:6.

Here ‘the land of Jordan’ stands for that which is lowly and so is distant from the celestial, as a person’s externals are from his internals.

sRef Jer@12 @5 S4′ [4] The crossing of the Jordan when the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan and the dividing of its waters at that time also represented the approach to the internal man by way of the external, as well as a person’s entry into the Lord’s kingdom, and much more besides, Josh. 3:14 on to the end of Chapter 4. And because the external man is constantly hostile towards the internal and strives for domination over it, the arrogance or the pride of the Jordan came to be phrases used by the Prophets, as in Jeremiah,

How will you compete with horses? And confident in a land of peace how do you deal with the pride of the Jordan? Jer. 12:5.

‘The pride of the Jordan’ stands for those things belonging to the external man which rear up and wish to have dominion over the internal, such as reasonings, meant here by ‘horses’, and ‘the confidence’ they give.

sRef Zech@11 @3 S5′ sRef Zech@11 @2 S5′ [5] In the same prophet,

Edom will become a desolation. Behold, like a lion it will come up from the arrogance of the Jordan against the habitation of Ethan. Jer. 49:17, 19.

‘The arrogance of the Jordan’ stands for the pride of the external man against the goods and truths of the internal. In Zechariah,

Howl, O fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the magnificent ones have been laid waste! Howl, O oaks of Bashan, for the impenetrable forest has come down. The sound of the howling of shepherds [is heard], for their magnificence has been laid waste; the sound of the roaring of young lions, that the pride of the Jordan has been laid waste. Zech. 11:2, 3.

The fact that the Jordan was a boundary of the land of Canaan is clear from Num. 34:12, and the eastern boundary of the land of Judah, in Josh. 15:5.
* i.e. the Great or Mediterranean Sea
** lit. upon me

AC (Elliott) n. 1586 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1586. ‘That the whole of it was wall-watered’ means that they, that is to say, goods and truths, are able to grow there. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘being well-watered’, for which see what has appeared already in 108.

AC (Elliott) n. 1587 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1587. ‘Before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah’ means before the external man was destroyed by desires for evil and by persuasions of falsity. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Sodom’ as desires for evil, and from the meaning of ‘Gomorrah’ as persuasions of falsity. These two are indeed what destroy the external man and separate it from the internal, and it was these two that destroyed the Most Ancient Church prior to the Flood. Desires for evil belong to the will, and persuasions of falsity to the understanding. And when these two are in control, the whole of the external man is destroyed, a destroying which also entails its separation from the internal man. It is not that the soul or spirit is separated from the body but that good and truth have been separated from the person’s soul or spirit so that their influx is felt only from a distance. That influx will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be dealt with elsewhere. Because among the human race the external man had been so destroyed and its link with the internal, that is, with good and truth, had been severed, the Lord came into the world to join together and unite the External Man to the Internal Man, that is, the Human Essence to the Divine Essence. This verse describes the nature of the external man when joined to the internal, that is to say, by the words ‘before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1588 sRef Ezek@28 @12 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ sRef Ezek@28 @13 S0′ sRef Isa@51 @3 S0′ 1588. ‘Like the garden of Jehovah’ means the rational concepts in the external man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the garden of Jehovah’ as intelligence, dealt with in 100, consequently the rational which comes in between the internal man and the external man. The rational is intelligence as it exists in the external man. It is called ‘the garden of Jehovah’ when the rational is celestial, that is, when it has a celestial origin, as was the case with the Most Ancient Church. This is described in Isaiah as follows,

Jehovah will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of ]Jehovah. Joy and gladness will be found in her, confession and the voice of song. Isa. 51:3.

When however the rational is spiritual, that is, when it has a spiritual origin, as was the case with the Ancient Church, the expression ‘the garden of God’ is used, as in Ezekiel,

Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Ezek. 28:12, 13.

A person’s rational is compared to a garden because this is how it is represented in heaven. It is man’s rational that manifests itself in just this way when that which is celestial-spiritual flows into it from the Lord. Indeed it is this which presents to view the paradise gardens whose magnificence and beauty surpass everything the human mind can imagine. This is the effect which the influx of celestial-spiritual light from the Lord produces, as dealt with already in 1042, 1043. It is not the loveliness and beauty of these gardens that stir the emotions but the celestial-spiritual elements that live within them.

AC (Elliott) n. 1589 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1589. ‘Like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’ means facts acquired from affections for good. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Egypt’, dealt with in 1164, 1165, in a good sense in 1462, as knowledge, and from the meaning of ‘Zoar’ as the affection for good. Zoar was a city not far from Sodom, to which also Lot fled when he was snatched by angels from the fire of Sodom, as described in Gen. 19:20, 22, 30. In addition to this, Zoar is referred to in Gen. 14:2, 8; Deut. 34:3; Isa. 15:5; Jer. 48:34, in all of which places also it means an affection. And since it means the affection for good, it also means in the contrary sense, as is usual, the affection for evil.

[2] There are three constituent parts of the external man – rational, factual, and external sensory. The rational part is more interior, the factual more exterior, and the external sensory the most external. The rational is the part by means of which the internal man is joined to the external, the character of the rational determining the character of this conjunction. The external sensory part consists in the present instance in sight and hearing. But in itself the rational has no existence if affection does not flow into it, making it active so as to receive life. Consequently the rational receives its character from that of the affection flowing into it. When the affection for good flows in, that affection for good becomes with the rational an affection for truth; and the contrary happens when the affection for evil flows in. Because the factual part attaches itself to the rational and serves as its agent it also follows that the affection flows into and reorganizes the factual part. For nothing has life in the external man apart from affection. The reason is that the affection for good comes down from the celestial, that is, from celestial love, which imparts life to everything into which it flows, even to affections for evil, that is, to evil desires.

[3] Actually the good of love from the Lord flows in constantly, doing so through the internal man into the external. But anyone who is governed by an affection for evil, that is, by an evil desire, corrupts that good. Nevertheless the life brought to it remains. Such may be seen from a comparison with objects on which the sun’s rays fall. There are some objects which accept them in a most beautiful way, converting them into the most beautiful colours, as a diamond, ruby, jacinth, sapphire, and other precious stones do. Other objects however do not accept them in that manner but convert them into the ugliest colours. The same point may be shown from the very characters of people. There are some who accept the good actions of another with every display of affection, while others convert them into evil. From this it becomes clear what the knowledge acquired from affections for good is which is meant by ‘the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’ when the rational is ‘like the garden of Jehovah’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1590 sRef Gen@13 @10 S0′ 1590. That these statements mean that the External Man appeared to the Lord as it is in its beauty when joined to the Internal Man becomes clear from the internal sense, in which the Lord as regards His Internal Man is represented by ‘Abram’ and as regards His External Man by ‘Lot’. It is impossible to describe how beautiful the External Man is when joined to the Internal since that beauty does not exist with any human being, but solely with the Lord; and any which does exist with any man or angel comes from the Lord. The nature of it becomes in some small measure clear from the image of the Lord as regards His External Man in the heavens, see 553 and 1530. The three heavens are images of the Lord’s External Man, yet it is in no way possible to give a description of the nature of their beauty that anyone can comprehend. Just as everything in the Lord is Infinite, so everything in heaven is boundless. And the boundlessness of heaven is an image of the Lord’s Infinity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1591 sRef Gen@13 @11 S0′ 1591. Verse 11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan; and Lot travelled from the east, and they were separated, man from his brother.

‘Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan’ means that the external man was such. ‘And Lot travelled from the east’ means those things residing with the external man which depart from celestial love. ‘And they were separated, man from his brother’ means that those things bring the separation about.

AC (Elliott) n. 1592 sRef Gen@13 @11 S0′ 1592. That ‘Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan’ means that the external man was such is clear from the meaning of ‘the plain of Jordan’ as the external man, dealt with in the previous verse. The previous verse describes the beauty of the external man when joined to the internal, but this verse and the two that follow describe the ugliness of it when separated.

AC (Elliott) n. 1593 sRef Gen@13 @11 S0′ 1593. ‘And Lot travelled from the east’ means those things residing with the external man which depart from celestial love. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the east’ as the Lord, and so as everything celestial, dealt with already in 101. And because the east means the Lord ‘the east’ here is consequently the Lord’s Internal Man, which is Divine. Thus it is the departure of the external man from the internal that is meant here by the words ‘Lot travelled from the east’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1594 sRef Gen@13 @11 S0′ 1594. That ‘they were separated, man from his brother’ means that those things bring the separation about follows from what has just been stated. What ‘a man, a brother’ is has already been stated above at verse 8, namely unity, and therefore ‘being separated, man from brother’ means severance. What it is that severs the external man from the internal, the individual does not know; and there are a number of reasons for his not knowing. For one thing he does not know of – or if he has heard of, does not believe in – the existence of the internal man. And for another thing he does not know – or if he has heard, does not believe – that self-love and its desires are what cause the severance, also the love of the world and its desires, though not so much as self-love. [2] The reason he does not know of – or if he has heard of, does not believe in – the existence of the internal man is that the life he leads is immersed in things of the body and the senses, which cannot possibly see what is interior. Interior things are able to see that which is exterior, but exterior things cannot possibly see what is interior. Take the power of sight; the internal sight can see what external sight is, but external sight cannot possibly see what internal sight is. Or take the power of understanding and of rationality; this is able to perceive what factual knowledge is, and the nature of it, but not vice versa. A further reason why the existence of the internal man is not known or believed in by the individual is that he does not believe in the existence of the spirit which is separated from the body at death, and scarcely in the existence of that internal life which people call the soul. For when the person whose mind is immersed in things of the body and the senses thinks of the spirit being separated from the body it strikes him as an impossibility because he regards the body as the place where life resides, and confirms himself in this view from the fact that animals have life as well and yet do not live on after death, in addition to many other considerations. All these ideas of his arise from the fact that the life he leads is immersed in things of the body and the senses, a life which regarded in itself is little different from the life of animals. The only difference is that man is able to think and to reason about whatever he encounters; but even then he does not reflect on this ability which places him above animals.

[3] But this is not the major cause of the severance of the external man from the internal man, for the greater number of people possess such unbelief, the highly learned more than the simple. That which causes the severance is chiefly self-love, and also love of the world, though not so much as self-love does. The reason a person does not know this is that his life is devoid of charity, and when his life is devoid of charity, how can he see that the life of self-love and its desires is so contrary to heavenly love? Also there is within self-love and its desires a kind of flame, and from it a feeling of delight which so affect a person’s life that he can scarcely conceive of eternal happiness consisting of anything else. For this reason also many people suppose that eternal happiness means becoming great following the life of the body and being served by others, even by angels, while they themselves are not willing to serve anybody except for the concealed motive of being served themselves. When at such times they assert that they wish to serve the Lord alone, it is a lie, for people who are ruled by self-love wish that even the Lord should serve them. And to the extent this does not happen they depart, so strong is the desire in their hearts to become lords and rule the entire universe. What kind of government it would be when the majority, or indeed all, are like this, anyone can think out for himself. Would it not be a government like that exercised in hell where everyone loves himself more than anybody else? This is what lies hidden within self-love. From this it may become clear what the nature of self-love is, and also from the fact that it conceals within itself hatred of all who do not submit themselves to it as its slaves. And because it conceals hatred, it also conceals forms of revenge, cruelty, deceit, and further unspeakable things.

[4] Mutual love however, which alone is heavenly, consists in not only saying but also acknowledging and believing that one is utterly undeserving, and something worthless and filthy, which the Lord in His infinite mercy is constantly drawing away and holding back from the hell into which the person constantly tries, and indeed longs, to cast himself. He acknowledges and believes this because it is the truth. Not that the Lord or any angel wishes him to acknowledge and believe it just to gain his submission, but to prevent his vaunting himself when he is in fact such. This would be like excrement calling itself pure gold, or a dung-fly a bird of paradise. To the extent therefore that a person acknowledges and believes that he really is what he in fact is, he departs from self-love and its desires, and loathes himself. To the extent that this happens he receives from the Lord heavenly love, that is, mutual love, which is willing to serve all. These are the people meant by the least who become the greatest in the Lord’s kingdom, Matt. 20:26-28; Luke 9:46-48.

[5] These considerations show what it is that severs the external man from the internal – chiefly self- love. And the chief thing that unites the external man to the internal is mutual love, which is in no way attainable until self-love departs, for they are complete opposites. The internal man is nothing else than mutual love. The human spirit itself, or soul, is the interior man which lives after death. It is organic, for it is joined to the body so long as the person lives in the world. This interior man – that is, his soul or spirit – is not the internal man, but the internal man is within the interior when the latter has mutual love within it. The things that belong to the internal man are the Lord’s, so that one may say that the internal man is the Lord. Yet because the Lord grants an angel or man, so long as his life has mutual love in it, a heavenly proprium so that he has no idea but that he does good from himself, an internal man is therefore attributed to a person as though it were his own. The person in whom mutual love dwells however acknowledges and believes that everything good and true is not his own but the Lord’s. He acknowledges and believes that his ability to love another as himself – and if he is like the angels, more than himself – is a gift from the Lord and that he ceases to enjoy that gift and its happiness to the extent he departs from acknowledging that it is the Lord’s.

AC (Elliott) n. 1595 sRef Gen@13 @12 S0′ 1595. Verse 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.

‘Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan’ means that the internal man dwelt in the celestial things of love. ‘And Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain’ means the external man dwelt in factual knowledge. ‘And moved his tent as far as Sodom’ means a reaching out towards evil desires.

AC (Elliott) n. 1596 sRef Gen@13 @12 S0′ 1596. That ‘Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan’ means that the internal man dwelt in the celestial things of love is clear from the meaning of ‘the land of Canaan’ as the celestial things of love, dealt with frequently already.

AC (Elliott) n. 1597 sRef Gen@13 @12 S0′ 1597. ‘And Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain’ means the external man dwelt in factual knowledge. This is clear from the representation of ‘Lot’ as the external man, and from the meaning of ‘a city’ or ‘cities’ as matters of doctrine, which in themselves are nothing else than facts when used in reference to the external man once this has been separated from the internal. That ‘cities’ means matters of doctrine, whether true or false, has been shown already in 402.

AC (Elliott) n. 1598 sRef Gen@13 @12 S0′ 1598. ‘And moved his tent as far as Sodom’ means a reaching out towards evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Sodom’ as evil desires, dealt with above at verse 10. These words are analogous to what was stated previously in verse 10 about ‘all the plain of Jordan being well-watered, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’, which was a reference to the External Man when united to the Internal – ‘the land of Egypt as you come to Zoar’ meaning facts obtained from affections for good. Here however ‘Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom’ means the external man when not united to the internal, and by these words are meant facts obtained from affections or desires for evil. Indeed that verse described the beauty of the External Man when united to the Internal, whereas this verse describes its ugliness when not united, and further still the next verse where it is said, ‘And the men of Sodom were evil and great sinners before Jehovah’. How ugly the external man is when separated from the internal may become clear to anyone from what has been stated about self-love and its desires which are the principal cause of the severance. As is the beauty of the External Man when united to the internal, so is the ugliness of it when not united. For regarded in itself the external man is nothing other than the servant of the internal. It is something instrumental whereby ends in view pass into uses, and uses manifest themselves in an effect, and thus all things may be accomplished. The reverse happens when the external man separates itself from the internal and wishes to serve only itself, even more when it wishes to have dominion over the internal, which, as has been shown, happens principally because of self-love and its desires.

AC (Elliott) n. 1599 sRef Gen@13 @13 S0′ 1599. Verse 13 And the men (vir) of Sodom were evil and great sinners before Jehovah.

‘The men of Sodom were evil and great sinners before Jehovah’ means the evil desires towards which facts were reaching out.

AC (Elliott) n. 1600 sRef Gen@13 @13 S0′ 1600. That ‘the men of Sodom were evil and great sinners before Jehovah’ means the evil desires towards which facts were reaching out becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Sodom’ as evil desires, dealt with already, and from the meaning of ‘men’ (vir) as intellectual concepts and rational concepts, here factual knowledge since they are spoken of in reference to the external man when separated from the internal. That ‘men’ means intellectual concepts or rational concepts has been shown already in 265, 749, 1007. Facts are said to reach out towards evil desires when they are learned for no other purpose than that one may become great, and not so that they may serve the use of making one good. All facts exist to enable a person to become rational and thereby wise, and so to enable him to serve the internal man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1601 sRef Gen@13 @14 S0′ 1601. Verse 14 And Jehovah said to Abram after Lot had been separated from him, Lift up your eyes, now, and look from the place where you are, towards the north, and towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the west.

‘Jehovah said to Abram’ means that Jehovah so spoke to the Lord. ‘After Lot had been separated from him’ means when the desires of the External Man had been removed so that they did not obstruct. ‘Lift up your eyes, now, and look from the place where you are’ means the Lord’s state at that time from which He was able to perceive things to come. ‘Towards the north, and towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the west’ means all men, as many as there are in the entire universe.

AC (Elliott) n. 1602 sRef John@14 @8 S0′ sRef John@14 @6 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @14 S0′ sRef John@14 @10 S0′ sRef John@14 @11 S0′ sRef John@14 @9 S0′ 1602. That ‘Jehovah said to Abram’ means that Jehovah so spoke to the Lord becomes clear from the internal sense of the Word, in which the Lord is meant by ‘Abram’, and also from the very state that was His at that time and which is also described here, that is to say, a state in which external things that obstructed were removed. This is what is meant by the statement ‘after Lot had been separated from him’. The Lord was Divine as regards His Internal Man because He was begotten from Jehovah, and so when there was no obstruction on the part of the External Man, He consequently saw all things to come. The reason this then seemed to be ‘Jehovah saying’ is that it took place in the presence of the External Man. As regards the Internal Man He was One with Jehovah, as the Lord Himself teaches in John,

Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who sees Me sees the Father So why do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? Believe Me, that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:6, 8-11.

AC (Elliott) n. 1603 sRef Gen@13 @14 S0′ 1603. ‘After Lot had been separated from him’ means when the desires of the External Man had been removed so that they did not obstruct. This is clear from the representation of ‘Lot’ as the External Man, and from what has been said already about his being separated, that is, those things that would cause obstruction. When these had been removed the Internal Man, or Jehovah, acted as one with the External Man, or the Lord’s Human Essence. It is the external things that disagree – these alone – which have been spoken of already, that obstruct and so prevent the internal man, when operating into the external, from making it one with itself. The external man is no more than a kind of implement or organ, and does not in itself possess any life at all. From the internal man however it can receive life, and then it seems as though the external man does possess life from itself.

sRef John@13 @32 S2′ sRef John@17 @1 S2′ sRef John@17 @5 S2′ sRef John@12 @28 S2′ sRef John@13 @31 S2′ [2] With the Lord however after He had cast out hereditary evil and so purified the organic elements of the Human Essence, these too received life so that the Lord, who was already Life as regards the internal Man, became Life as regards the External Man as well. This is what ‘glorification’ means in John,

Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him at once. John 13:31, 32.

In the same gospel,

Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You. Now therefore, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:1, 5.

In the same gospel,

Jesus said, Father, glorify Your name. A voice therefore came from heaven, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. John 12:8.

AC (Elliott) n. 1604 sRef Gen@13 @14 S0′ 1604. ‘Lift up your eyes, now, and look from the place where you are’ means the Lord’s state at that time [from which He was able to perceive things to come]. This is clear from the meaning of ‘lifting up the eyes and looking’ as being enlightened and perceiving, dealt with above at verse 10, and from the meaning of ‘a place’ in the internal sense as state. That ‘a place’ is nothing other than a state has been shown in 1274, 1376-1379.

AC (Elliott) n. 1605 sRef Gen@13 @14 S0′ 1605. ‘Towards the north, and towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the west’ means all men, as many as there are in the entire universe. This is clear from the meaning of these four directions. In the Word north, south, east, and west each have their own particular meaning. ‘North’ means people who are outside the Church, that is to say, who are in darkness as regard truths of faith; and it also means the darkness residing with the individual. ‘South’ however means people who are inside the Church, that is to say, who are in light as regards cognitions; and likewise it means the light itself. ‘East’ means people who lived in the past; and it also means celestial love, as shown already. ‘West’ however means people who will live in the future, and likewise people who do not have love. What they mean is clear from the train of thought in the internal sense. But when north, south, east, and west are all mentioned together, as they are here, they mean everybody living throughout the whole world, as well as those who lived in the past and those who will do so in the future. They also mean the states of the human race as regards love and faith.

AC (Elliott) n. 1606 sRef Gen@13 @15 S0′ 1606. Verse 15 For all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed even for ever.

‘For all the land which you see I will give to you’ means the heavenly kingdom which was to be the Lord’s. ‘And to your seed even for ever’ means people who were to have faith in Him.

AC (Elliott) n. 1607 sRef Dan@7 @13 S0′ sRef Luke@22 @69 S0′ sRef Gen@13 @15 S0′ sRef Matt@28 @18 S0′ sRef Dan@7 @14 S0′ sRef Matt@11 @27 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @22 S0′ sRef John@17 @3 S1′ sRef John@17 @2 S1′ sRef Isa@9 @6 S1′ 1607. That ‘for all the land which you see I will give to you’ means the heavenly kingdom which was to be the Lord’s is clear from the meaning of ‘land’ – the land of Canaan in this context since the words used are ‘the land which you see’ – as the heavenly kingdom. Indeed the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens, which is heaven, and also the Lord’s kingdom on earth, which is the Church. This meaning of ‘land’ has been discussed frequently already. That the kingdom in heaven and on earth was given to the Lord is clear from various places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

A Boy is born, a Son is given to us; and the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isa. 9:6.

In Daniel,

I saw in the night visions, and behold with the clouds of the heavens One like the Son of Man was coming, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, and all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Him. His dominion is an eternal dominion which will not pass away, and His kingdom one that will not perish. Dan 7:13, 14.

The Lord Himself also says the same: in Matthew,

All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22.

Elsewhere in Matthew,

[All] power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matt. 28:18.

In John,

You have given to the Son power over all flesh in order that all You have given Him, to them He may give eternal life. John 17:2, 3.

And ‘sitting on the right hand’ has the same meaning, as in Luke,

From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Luke 22:69.

sRef John@17 @5 S2′ sRef John@8 @58 S2′ sRef Isa@9 @6 S2′ sRef John@5 @26 S2′ [2] As regards all power in heaven and on earth being given to the Son of Man, it should be recognized that the Lord already had power over all things in heaven and on earth before He came into the world, for He was God from eternity and He was Jehovah, as He Himself plainly declares in John,

Now, Father, glorify Me in Your Own Self with the glory I had with You before the world was. John 17:5.

And in the same gospel,

Truly, Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.* John 8:58.

In fact He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood, and was seen by them. He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church which existed after the Flood; and He was the One whom all the religious observances of the Jewish Church represented, and the One they worshipped. The reason the Lord says that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to Him, as though it had not been His till then, is that ‘the Son of Man’ is used to mean His Human Essence which became Jehovah as well after it had been united to His Divine Essence. Power was given to Him at that point, which would not have been possible until He was glorified, that is, until His Human Essence as well, through union with the Divine Essence, had life in Itself and likewise became Divine and Jehovah, as He Himself declares in John,

As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:26.

[3] It is His Human Essence or External Man that is named ‘the Son of Man’ in the passage quoted from Daniel, and ‘a Boy born, a Son given to us’ in the passage quoted from Isaiah. The fact that the heavenly kingdom would be given to Him, and all power in heaven and on earth, was shown and promised to Him then, and is the meaning of the statement ‘all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed after you for ever’. This was before His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence, a union which took place when He had overcome the devil and hell, that is to say, when by His own strength and powers He had cast out all evil, which alone causes the severance.
* The Latin means I was, but the Greek means I am, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1608 sRef Gen@13 @15 S0′ sRef John@3 @35 S1′ sRef John@3 @36 S1′ 1608. ‘And to your seed even for ever’ means people who were to have faith in Him. This is clear from the meaning of ‘seed’ as faith, and indeed faith that is the expression of charity, dealt with already in 255, 256, 1025. That it was to His ‘seed’, that is, to those who have faith in Him, that the heavenly kingdom would be given, is quite clear from the Lord’s own words in John,

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life. John 3:35, 36.

sRef John@1 @13 S2′ sRef John@1 @12 S2′ [2] And in the same gospel,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man. John 1:12, 13.

From these places it is clear what faith, or believing in Him, is, that is to say, that it resides with those who receive Him and believe in Him, and who are born ‘not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man’. ‘The will of the flesh’ is that which-is contrary to love and charity, for that is what ‘flesh” means, 999; and ‘the will of man (vir)’ is that which is contrary to faith stemming from love or charity, for this is what ‘man’ means. Indeed the will of the flesh and the will of man are such as cause division, whereas love and the faith that comes from it are such as serve to join. People therefore with whom love and the faith that comes from it reside are those who are ‘born of God’. And because they are born of God they are called ‘the sons of God’ and are His ‘seed’ to whom the heavenly kingdom is given, which is the meaning in this verse of the statement, ‘All the land which you see I will give to you, and to your seed even for ever’.

[3] The fact that the heavenly kingdom cannot be given to people whose faith is devoid of charity, that is, who say they have faith but hate their neighbour, may become clear to anyone provided he is willing to reflect on the matter. For there can be no life to such faith when hatred, that is, hell, constitutes the life, for hell consists solely of forms of hatred, not of those forms of it which a person receives through heredity but of the forms of the hatred which he has acquired to himself through his own actions in life.

AC (Elliott) n. 1609 sRef Gen@13 @16 S0′ 1609. Verse 16 And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, so also will your seed be numbered.

‘I will make your seed as the dust of the earth’ means being multiplied beyond measure. ‘That if anyone can number the dust of the earth, so also will your seed be numbered’ means an absolute assurance.

AC (Elliott) n. 1610 sRef Gen@13 @16 S0′ 1610. That ‘I will make your seed as the dust of the earth’ means being multiplied beyond measure is clear without explanation. Here it is said that his seed would be made as ‘the dust of the earth’, in other parts of the Word as ‘the dust of the sea’, and in yet other parts as ‘the stars of heaven’. Each of these phrases has its own particular meaning. ‘Dust of the earth’ has regard to those things that are celestial, for, as shown already, ‘the earth’ means the celestial aspect of love; ‘dust of the sea’ has regard to those things that are spiritual, for ‘the sea’, as has also been shown, means the spiritual aspect of love; while ‘as the stars of heaven’ means both but in a higher degree. And because these things cannot be numbered they therefore became common expressions to describe growth and multiplication beyond measure.

[2] The statement that his seed, that is, the faith that is the expression of love, or simply love, was to be multiplied beyond measure means in the highest sense the Lord, and in particular His Human Essence, for the Lord as regards the Human Essence is called ‘the seed of the woman’, dealt with in 256. When the Lord’s Human Essence is meant, the infinite celestial and spiritual is understood by the words ‘multiplied beyond measure’; but when faith that is the expression of charity, or simply charity, among the human race is meant by ‘the seed’, the multiplication without measure of that seed in everyone who leads a charitable life is understood. Such multiplication takes place in the next life with everyone who leads a charitable life. With him the multiplication of charity and of the faith deriving from it, together with their associated happiness, is so great that one can only describe it as being beyond measure and defying description. When the human race is meant by ‘the seed’, the multiplication of this in the Lord’s kingdom is also beyond measure – not only from those who are inside the Church, and their children, but also from those who are outside the Church, and their children. Consequently the Lord’s kingdom or heaven is boundless. That boundlessness will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be spoken of elsewhere.

AC (Elliott) n. 1611 sRef Gen@13 @17 S0′ 1611. Verse 17 Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for to you will I give it.

‘Arise, walk through the land’ means in order that He might survey the heavenly kingdom. ‘The length of it and the breadth of it’ means the celestial dimension and the spiritual dimension of it. ‘For to you will I give it’ means that it was His.

AC (Elliott) n. 1612 sRef Gen@13 @17 S0′ 1612. That ‘arise, walk through the land’ means in order that He might survey the heavenly kingdom is clear from the meaning of ‘land’ as the heavenly kingdom, dealt with frequently already. In the sense of the letter ‘arising and walking through the land’ is discovering and seeing the nature of it, and therefore in the internal sense, in which ‘the land’ or the land of Canaan means the kingdom of God in the heavens, which is heaven, and the kingdom of God on earth, which is the Church, surveying and also perceiving is meant.

AC (Elliott) n. 1613 sRef Gen@13 @17 S0′ 1613. ‘The length of it and the breadth of it’ means the celestial dimension and the spiritual dimension, or what amounts to the same, good and truth. ‘length’ means good and ‘breadth’ truth; see what has been stated already in 650. The reason is that ‘land’ means the heavenly kingdom, or Church, to which length and breadth are not attributable, only those things that match them and correspond to them, that is to say, goods and truths. The celestial dimension, or good, being primary, is compared to length, while the spiritual dimension, or truth, being secondary, is compared to breadth.

sRef Hos@4 @16 S2′ sRef Ps@118 @5 S2′ sRef Hab@1 @6 S2′ sRef Isa@8 @8 S2′ sRef Ps@31 @8 S2′ [2] That ‘breadth’ is truth is quite clear from the Prophetical part of the Word, as in Habakkuk,

I am rousing the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation, marching’ into the breadths of the earth. Hab. 1:6.

‘Chaldeans’ stands for people under the influence of falsity, ‘marching* into the breadths of the earth’ for the destruction of truths, for these words are used in reference to the Chaldeans. In David,

O Jehovah, You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have made my feet stand in a broad place. Ps. 31:8.

‘Standing in a broad place’ stands for abiding in the truth. In the same author,

Out of my distress I called on lain; He answered me in a broad place. Ps. 118:5.

‘Answering in a broad place’ stands for answering with the truth. In Hosea,

Jehovah will pasture them like a lamb in a broad place. Hosea 4:16.

‘Pasturing in a broad place’ stands for teaching the truth.

sRef Rev@21 @16 S3′ [3] In Isaiah,

Asshur will go through Judah, it will deluge it and pass through and will reach even to the neck; and the outstretching of its wings will fill the breadth of the land. Isa. 8:8.

‘Asshur’ stands for reasoning which would ‘deluge the land’, or the Church; ‘wings’ stands for reasonings from which falsities result; ‘filling the breadth of the land’ stands for its being full of falsities, or things contrary to the truth. Because the length of the land meant good and its breadth truth it is said that the New Jerusalem when measured lies four-square, its length being the same as its breadth, Rev. 21:16. From this anyone may see that length and breadth have no other meaning, since the New Jerusalem is nothing else than the Lord’s kingdom in heaven and on earth. Because of the meaning things have in the internal sense it became commonplace in former times to refer to celestial and spiritual things by means of things on earth, such as length and breadth, just as height and depth are used nowadays in everyday speech when people are referring to wisdom.
* lit. walking

AC (Elliott) n. 1614 sRef Gen@13 @17 S0′ 1614. ‘For to you will I give it’ means that it was His. This is clear without explanation. That ‘the land’, or heavenly kingdom, is the Lord’s alone is clear from what has been shown many times, namely that there is no other Lord of heaven. And being the Lord of heaven He is also the Lord of the Church. This is also clear from the fact that everything celestial and spiritual, or good and true, comes from the Lord alone. The Lord is therefore the All in all of His heaven, insomuch indeed that anyone who has no discernment of good and truth from the Lord is no longer in heaven. This sphere is the sphere that reigns throughout the whole of heaven. It is also the very soul of heaven, and is the life that flows into all who are governed by good.

AC (Elliott) n. 1615 sRef Gen@13 @18 S0′ 1615. Verse 18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to Jehovah.

‘Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron’ means that the Lord arrived at a perception more interior still. This is the sixth state. ‘And there he built an altar to Jehovah’ means worship as the outcome of that state.

AC (Elliott) n. 1616 sRef Gen@13 @18 S0′ 1616. That ‘Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt in the oak groves of Mamre which are in Hebron’ means that the Lord arrived at a perception more interior still is clear from the meaning of ‘moving one’s tent’, that is, moving it and pitching it once again, as the process of being joined together; for ‘a tent’ is the holiness of worship, as shown already in 414, 1452, by which the external man is joined to the internal. It is also clear from the meaning of ‘an oak-grove’ as perception, dealt with already in 1442, 1443, where the phrase that occurred was ‘the oak-grove of Moreh’, meaning a first perception, whereas here the plural ‘the oak-groves of Mamre’ is used, which means a fuller, that is, more interior perception. This perception is called ‘the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron’. Mamre is also mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in Gen. 14:13; 18:1; 23:17-19; 35:27; and Hebron too, in Gen. 35:27; 37:14; Josh. 10:36, 39; 14:13-15; 15:13, 54; 20:7; 21:11, 13; Judg. 1:10, 20; and elsewhere. But what Mamre and Hebron mean where they are so mentioned will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be seen when these other parts of the Word are explained.

[2] The implications of ‘the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron’ meaning perception more interior still are as follows: To the extent that those things belonging to the external man are joined to celestial things belonging to the internal man perception grows and becomes more interior. Conjunction with celestial things confers perception, for within the celestial things that belong to love to Jehovah dwells the life itself of the internal man, or what amounts to the same, within celestial things which belong to love, that is, within celestial love, Jehovah is present. This presence is not perceived in the external man however until the conjunction has taken place. All perception is the result of conjunction.

[3] From the internal sense here it is clear what the situation was in the Lord’s case: His External Man, or Human Essence, was joined step by step to the Divine Essence as cognitions multiplied and became fruitful. No one can ever, insofar as he is human, be joined to Jehovah, or the Lord, except by means of cognitions, for it is by means of cognitions that a person is made human. This applied to the Lord too since He was born as any other is born, and received instruction as any other does. Yet in the cognitions He had as receptacles celestial things were being instilled continually, with the result that His cognitions were constantly being made into the recipient vessels of celestial things; and these vessels also were themselves made celestial.

[4] Constantly the Lord advanced in this manner towards the celestial things of infancy, for, as stated already, the celestial things which belong to love are being instilled in a person from earliest infancy to childhood and on into adolescence as well. Since he is a human being, at that time and later on he is endowed with knowledge and cognitions. If a person is such that he can be regenerated, that knowledge and those cognitions are filled with celestial things that belong to love and charity, and are accordingly implanted within the celestial things he was endowed with from infancy through to childhood and adolescence, and in this way his external man is joined to his internal. First of all they are implanted in the celestial things he was endowed with in adolescence, then in those he was endowed with in childhood, and finally in those he was endowed with in infancy. At that point he is ‘the little child’ regarding whom the Lord said ‘of such is the kingdom of God’. This implanting is done by the Lord alone, and therefore nothing celestial with man either does or can exist with man that does not come from, and belong to, the Lord.

[5] The Lord however from His own power joined His External Man to His Internal Man and filled His cognitions with celestial things, and He implanted them in celestial things, doing so according to Divine Order. First of all He implanted them in the celestial things of childhood, then in the celestial things of the age of childhood and back to infancy, and finally in the celestial things of His infancy. In this way He at the same time became as regards the Human Essence Innocence itself and Love itself, from which derive all innocence and all love in heaven and on earth. Such Innocence is true Infancy because it is simultaneously Wisdom. But the innocence of infancy is of no use at all unless by means of cognitions it becomes the innocence of wisdom, and this is why little children in the next life are endowed with cognitions. As the Lord implanted cognitions in celestial things, so He had perception, for, as stated, all perception is the result of conjunction. He had His first perception when He implanted the facts acquired in childhood, a perception meant by ‘the oak-grove of Moreh’; and He had His second, which is the subject here, and which is more interior, when He implanted cognitions, a perception meant by ‘the oak-groves of Mamre which are in Hebron’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1617 sRef Gen@13 @18 S0′ 1617. That this is the sixth state is clear from what was said in the previous chapter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1618 sRef Gen@13 @18 S0′ 1618. ‘And there he built an altar to Jehovah’ means worship as the outcome of that state. This is clear from the meaning of ‘an altar’ as the representative of all worship in general, dealt with already in 921. Worship in the internal sense means all conjunction by means of love and charity. A person is worshipping all the time if love and charity abide in him, external worship being only the outward expression of it. Such is the worship of angels, and therefore with them the sabbath never comes to an end; and this in turn explains why in the internal sense ‘the sabbath’ means the Lord’s kingdom. While a person is in the world however he ought certainly to participate in external worship as well; for it is by external worship that internal things are aroused, and by means of external worship external things are kept holy so as to enable internal to flow in. Furthermore a person is endowed with cognitions by this means, and is made ready to receive celestial things, and also has states of holiness conferred on him, though he is not conscious of this. These states of holiness are preserved by the Lord for his use in eternal life; in fact all the states of his life reappear in the next life.

AC (Elliott) n. 1619 1619. THE LIGHT IN WHICH ANGELS ARE LIVING – continued; ALSO THEIR PARADISE GARDENS, AND THEIR DWELLING – PLACES

When a person’s interior sight – the sight of his spirit – is opened, he then sees things in the next life, things that can never be manifested before his bodily eyes. The visions that the prophets had were nothing else. As has been stated, representatives of the Lord and of His kingdom, as well as meaningful signs, are to be seen constantly, so much so that nothing ever comes before the eyes of angels that is not a representative or a meaningful sign. This is the origin of representatives and of meaningful signs in the Word, for the Word derives from the Lord through heaven.

AC (Elliott) n. 1620 1620. The things that manifest themselves visibly in the world of spirits and in heaven are too numerous to recount. Since the subject here is the light, let an account be given of the things that are the direct product of the light, such as the skies, paradise gardens, rainbows, palaces, and dwelling- places. These to the eyes of spirits and angels are there so bright and vivid, and at the same time appreciated with each of the senses, that they say those objects are real while those in the world are in comparison not real.

AC (Elliott) n. 1621 1621. As regards the skies which surround the blessed, which are attributable to the light because they are the product of that light, they are countless; and such is their beauty and loveliness that they defy description. There are adamantine skies which glitter in every smallest part, as if made of tiny spherical diamonds. There are skies that resemble the sparkling of every precious stone. There are skies that look like great pearls with light streaming through their centres and shot through with the brightest colours. There are skies aflame as if made of gold or of silver, even of diamond-like gold and silver. There are skies consisting of flowers varying in colour, but too small to be seen individually. Such, in their countless varieties, fill the heaven of little children. Indeed skies also manifest themselves there which seem to contain the shapes of little children at play, but too small to be seen individually and perceptible solely in the inner recesses of the mind. From these shapes little children gain the idea that everything around them is alive and shares in the Lord’s life. This idea gives them a feeling of happiness in their inmost being. There are many more kinds of skies, for their varieties are countless and beyond description.

AC (Elliott) n. 1622 1622. As regards the paradise gardens, these are breath-taking. Such gardens are to be seen, of vast extent, consisting of trees of every kind, and so beautiful and lovely as to surpass everything imaginable. These are presented so vividly before the eyes of spirits or angels that they not merely see them but even perceive the details far more vividly than the sight of the eye can take such things in on earth. To prevent my having any doubt about it, I too have been taken there. It is in front and a little higher- near the corner of the right eye. This is where those are who live the life of paradise; and there I saw them. Every single thing growing there appears at its loveliest as in spring and blossom-time, with astounding magnificence and variety. Every single one owes its life to being representative, for there is nothing that is not a representation and does not carry some celestial or spiritual meaning. In this way they not only delight the eye but also fill the mind with happiness.

[2] There were certain souls recently arrived from the world who, on account of the assumptions they had adopted during their lifetime, doubted whether things of this sort could possibly be found in the next life where there is no wood or stone. They were brought up to that place, and from there they talked to me. In their amazement they said that it was beyond description, that they could never think of any way of representing how far beyond description it was, and that forms of joy and happiness shone from every detail – and this in ever-changing variety. Souls who are introduced into heaven normally make first of all for the paradise gardens. The angels however look at those gardens quite differently. It is not the gardens that delight them but what they represent, the celestial and spiritual things which give rise to them. These also account for the paradise gardens which the Most Ancient Church had.

AC (Elliott) n. 1623 1623. As regards rainbows, there is a kind of rainbow heaven where the whole sky seems to be made up of a succession of tiny rainbows. In that region are those who belong to the province of the inner eye. They are on the right, in front, and a little way up. The entire sky or air there consists of such sparkling forms, with rays emanating so to speak from separate sources. Around runs a very beautiful large-scale rainbow, composed of similar smaller rainbows, each of which is a very beautiful likeness of the larger one. Each colour consists of countless rays, so that myriads make up one perceptible and general whole. This is a kind of modification of the sources of light by the celestial and spiritual things which produce them, and at the same time present before the eyes an idea that is representative of themselves. The differences and the variations in rainbows are countless, some of which I have been allowed to witness. To convey some idea of the ways in which they differ, and to make it clear how one visible band consists of countless rays, let just one or two of them be described.

AC (Elliott) n. 1624 1624. The form of one of the large rainbows was shown to me, so that from it I could get to know what their smallest forms were like. It was a pure white light with a kind of border, in the middle of which was a dark object as if made of earth. This was surrounded by an extremely luminous halo, itself variegated and divided up by another luminescence that had yellow dots like tiny stars. Additional variegations were produced by flowers of different colours entering the luminous area. The colours of these flowers emanated not from a white light but from a flame-like one. All of these appearances were representative of celestial and spiritual things. All the colours that are seen in the next life represent that which is celestial or spiritual. The colours emanating from the flame-like light represent things that belong to love and the affection for good, whereas colours emanating from the white light represent those that belong to faith and the affection for truth. These are the sources of all colours in the next life, and they are therefore so resplendent that the colours of this world cannot compare with them. Colours also exist there which are never seen in this world.

AC (Elliott) n. 1625 1625. I also saw a rainbow shape which had a green area, the colour of grass, in its centre; and I was aware of a kind of sun to one side, and so out of sight, which illuminated it with a flood of light so white as to defy description. It was edged with most attractive variations of colour on a surface of shining pearl. These and other things demonstrated the forms that rainbows take in their tiniest parts, and that countless variations exist, which are determined by the charity, and faith deriving from this, of the person to whom the representation appears. He also resembles a rainbow to those who can see him in all his beauty and glory.

AC (Elliott) n. 1626 sRef Rev@21 @20 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @12 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @10 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @18 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @19 S0′ 1626. In addition to the gardens, cities too are to be seen with magnificent palaces, built in terraces, resplendent in colours, and far superior to anything architects can design. It is not surprising therefore that the like were also seen by the prophets when their interior sight had been opened, seen indeed so plainly that nothing in the world is ever plainer, such as the New Jerusalem seen by John, which he also describes in the following words,

He carried me away in the spirit on to a great and high mountain and showed me the great city, the Holy Jerusalem, having a wall great and high, having twelve gates. The structure of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear* glass. The foundations of the wall were furnished with every precious stone, the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. Rev. 21:10, 12, 18-20.

Similar scenes were witnessed by the prophets as well. Countless things such as these are seen in broad daylight by angels and angelic spirits, and what is astonishing, they are perceived by each of the senses. This no one is ever able to believe who has done away with spiritual ideas by means of the terms and definitions employed in human philosophy and by means of reasonings; yet they are utterly true. That they are true could have been grasped from the fact that they have been seen so often by saints.
* The Latin means golden, but the Greek means pure or clear, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1627 1627. In addition to the cities and palaces, I have also on occasions been allowed to see the decorative work there, such as that of stairways and of doors. These decorations are full of movement, as though they were living, and constantly change to reveal new beauty and symmetry. I have been told that such variations can continue in this fashion, even for ever, with a harmony for ever new, and with the very succession of variations forming a harmony as well. I was also told that these were merely some of the least significant things.

AC (Elliott) n. 1628 1628. All angels have their own dwellings in the places where they are, and these are magnificent. I have been to those places; I have seen them frequently, and have been astonished; and I have talked to those there. They stand out so clearly and distinctly that nothing can be more clear and distinct. Dwellings on earth scarcely stand any comparison with them whatever. The angels go so far as to declare that dwelling places on earth are dead and unreal, whereas their own are alive and true because they come from the Lord. Their architecture is such as to be the source of the art of architecture; and it is endlessly varied. They have said that if they were offered all the palaces existing in the whole world they would not exchange them for their own. So far as they are concerned, what is made of stone, clay, or wood is dead, whereas what derives from the Lord, and from life itself and light itself, is alive – the more so since they experience them with all of their senses. For what exists there is utterly appropriate to the senses of spirits and angels, while what is illuminated by the physical sun they cannot see at all with their own sight. Things made of stone and wood however are appropriate to the senses men possess while they live in the physical body. Spiritual things go with spiritual, and physical with physical.

AC (Elliott) n. 1629 1629. The dwellings of good spirits and of angelic spirits usually have porticoes or vaulted, sometimes double-vaulted, galleries where they can stroll. The walls of these porticoes are variously constructed. They are also decorated with flowers and with marvelously woven garlands of flowers, besides many other decorations which, as has been stated, change and replace one another. Sometimes they see them in brighter light, sometimes in dimmer, but always with interior delight. The places also where they reside change into more beautiful ones as spirits grow in perfection. When they are changing, something like a window appears on the side. This is then enlarged and greater obscurity develops inside, and one sees something of the sky so to speak with stars, and a kind of cloud. This is a sign that their dwelling-places are changing into more pleasant ones.

AC (Elliott) n. 1630 1630. Spirits are highly indignant that men have no conception of the life of spirits and angels, or that men imagine that they dwell in a state of obscurity, which must be very miserable, and that they are so to speak in an empty void, when in fact they live in the strongest light, can enjoy all good things with every one of their senses, so much so that they are able to perceive them most intimately. There were also certain souls recently arrived from the world who, on account of the assumptions they had adopted there, had brought with them the idea that such things did not exist in the next life. They were therefore taken into angers’ homes, where they talked to them and saw those things. When they resumed they said they perceived that it was true and that such things were indeed a reality, and that they never had nor could have believed it during their lifetime. They also said that these things belonged inevitably among the wonderful things people do not believe because they do not have any conception of them. As however this is an experience of the senses, although of the interior senses, they are told this, that they still ought not to doubt the reality of things merely because they do not have any conception of them. Indeed, they are told, if they believed nothing except that of which they have some conception, they would believe nothing concerning things of an interior nature, still less those of eternal life. Here lies the reason for the insanity of our own times.

AC (Elliott) n. 1631 1631. On entering the next life people who have been rich during their lifetime and have dwelt in magnificent palaces, fixing their heaven in such things, and who, devoid of conscience or charity, have under various pretexts robbed others of their goods, are first led, as stated already, into the selfsame life that was theirs in the world. And sometimes they are allowed to dwell in palaces, just as they had done in the world. For all initially are received in the next life as guests and newcomers; and so that their interiors and aims in life may not yet be disclosed, angels from the Lord are sent to give them pleasure and treat them kindly. The scene however changes – the palaces slowly fade away and become small houses, becoming successively poorer until at length they cease to exist. At that point they go around like people begging for alms, and asking to be taken in. But being what they are, they are rejected from the communities. At length they become as excrement, and give off a stink like that of bad teeth.

AC (Elliott) n. 1632 1632. I have spoken to angels about representatives, suggesting that the vegetable kingdom on earth included nothing that was not in some way representative of the Lord’s kingdom. They replied that everything beautiful and glorious in the vegetable kingdom has its origin in the Lord by way of heaven; and that when celestial and spiritual influences from the Lord enter nature, such things are really created, and that this is the origin of the vegetative soul or life. Consequently they are representative. Since this is not known in the world they called it a heavenly arcanum.

AC (Elliott) n. 1633 1633. I have also been fully informed about the nature of influx into the lives of animals – lives which, following death, all cease to exist. This subject will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be taken up later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1634 1634. 14

THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS AND ANGELS

It is well known from the Word of the Lord that many in former times spoke to spirits and angels, and that those people heard and saw many things that exist in the next life; but that after those times heaven was so to speak closed, so completely that at the present day there is scarcely any belief in the existence of spirits and angels, let alone in anyone being able to talk to them. For people today suppose that to talk to those who cannot be seen, and to those whose existence they deny in their hearts, is an impossibility. But since in the Lord’s Divine mercy I have been allowed for some years now almost constantly to hold conversations with them and to enjoy their fellowship as one among them, let me now relate what I have been given to know about their speech with one another.

AC (Elliott) n. 1635 1635. When spirits have spoken to me I have heard and perceived their speech as clearly as that used by man speaking to man. Indeed when I have talked to spirits while I have been in the company of men, I have observed that just as the men’s speech was audible to me so also was that of the spirits, so audible that sometimes the spirits were amazed that their speaking to me was not heard by others; for as far as hearing was concerned no difference at all existed between the speech of the spirits and that of the men. Yet because influx into the internal organs of hearing is not of the same kind as the influx of spoken words among men, those spirits could not be heard by anybody other than myself whose internal organs in the Lord’s Divine mercy have been opened. Human speech is brought in through the ear by an external route, by means of the air, whereas the speech of spirits does not come in through the ear nor by means of the air but by an internal route, into the same organs of the head or brain. The hearing is consequently the same.

AC (Elliott) n. 1636 1636. How difficult it is for people to be brought to believe that spirits and angels exist, let alone that anyone can speak to them, was made clear to me by the following example: There were certain spirits who during their lifetime had belonged among the more learned and whom I had known at the time (for I have spoken to almost all the people with whom I was acquainted during their lifetime, to some for several weeks, to others for a year, just as if they were still living in the body). They were at one point brought into a state of thought similar to that which had been theirs when they lived in the world, a step that is easily taken in the next life. While they were in this state the question was subtly raised in their minds whether they believed it possible for anyone on earth to talk to spirits. They said, while in this state, that it was a delusion to believe any such thing; and this they asserted most persistently. From this I was led to realize how difficult it is for anyone to be brought to believe that any speaking to spirits is possible to man, the reason being that men do not believe in the existence of spirits, still less that after death they themselves will come among spirits. These particular spirits were utterly amazed at this; and yet they belonged among the more learned who have spoken a lot in public about the next life and about heaven and angels, from which one might have been led to think that they knew about it fully as a fact, especially from the Word where such speaking to spirits is mentioned frequently.

AC (Elliott) n. 1637 1637. Among the marvels that occur in the next life is the fact that spirits speak to man in his own mother tongue. They speak it with the fluency and skill of one born in the same country and brought up using the same tongue. This is so whether they come from Europe, or from Asia, or from some other part of the world, including those who lived thousands of years before that tongue had come into being. Indeed when speaking to man the spirits know no other than that the language they are using is their own and that of their own country. The same is also the case with the foreign languages which a person has learned. But beyond these, spirits are not able to utter one sound of another language unless they are directly enabled to do so by the Lord. Even little children who have died before learning to talk in any language speak in the same way.

[2] The reason for this is that the language with which spirits are familiar is not a language composed of words but a language composed of ideas comprising thought. This language is the universal of all languages; and when spirits are present with someone on earth the ideas comprising their thought fall into words which belong to that person’s vocabulary. This takes place in such a corresponding and fitting manner that the spirits know no other than that those words are their own and that they are speaking in their own language, when in fact they are speaking in the person’s language. I have spoken on several occasions to spirits about these matters. All souls, the moment they enter the next life, receive this gift of being able to understand what all people in any part of the world are saying, just as if they had been born among those people, for they perceive whatever a person is thinking. In addition to this they receive other abilities which are more perfect still. This explains why after death of the body souls are able to talk to and mix with all people, no matter what region these came from or what language they spoke.

AC (Elliott) n. 1638 1638. The words used by spirits when they speak, that is, those which they call up or draw out from a person’s memory and imagine to be their own, are well chosen and clear, full of meaning, clearly pronounced, and applicable to the subject. And what is amazing, they know how to choose their words better and more immediately than the person himself does. Indeed, as has been shown, they are acquainted with the various meanings which the words carry and which they apply in an instant and without any forethought, the reason being, as has been stated, that the ideas of which their language is composed flow into no other words than those that are appropriate. It is very much as when a person is speaking, yet gives no thought to the words that he is using but is intent solely on the meaning which they express. His thought falls, in accordance with the meaning, immediately and spontaneously into words. It is the meaning lying within which produces the words that are used; and it is in a similar, yet finer and more perfect, inward meaning that the speech of spirits consists. It is through this inward meaning that man, though he is not aware of it, communicates with spirits

AC (Elliott) n. 1639 1639. Speech composed of words, as has been stated, is the speech that belongs properly to man, and indeed to his bodily memory, whereas speech composed of ideas comprising thought is the speech that belongs to spirits, and indeed to the interior memory, which is the memory possessed by the spirit. Men are not aware of having this interior memory because the memory of particulars, that is, of material things, which is of a bodily nature, is everything and obscures the interior memory. Yet without the interior memory, which belongs properly to his spirit, man is unable to think at all. I have spoken to spirits quite often by means of that memory, and so in their own language, that is, through the ideas that are part of thought. How universal and abundant that language is becomes clear from the fact that every word holds within itself an idea that is wide-ranging; for it is well known that a single idea which a word possesses may be set forth by the use of many words. This is even more true of an idea belonging to one particular subject, and truer still of an idea belonging to many such subjects, which may be drawn together into one composite idea which nevertheless seems to be a simple whole. These considerations show what the speech is like which comes naturally to spirits when with one another and by means of which man is joined to spirits.

AC (Elliott) n. 1640 1640. I have been allowed not only to perceive clearly the things which spirits have said to me but also to perceive where these were at the time of speaking- whether they were overhead, or down below, to the right or to the left, near to the ear or somewhere else, close to or inside the body, and how near or far away they were. For they have spoken to me from the various places or positions in which they were, according to their position in the Grand Man, that is, according to their state.

[2] I have also been allowed to perceive when they were coming and when they were going away; in which direction they were going and how far; whether they were many or few; and other things besides these. I have at the same time perceived from their speech what kind of spirits they were, for from their speech, as likewise from the sphere emanating from them, it is quite evident what their character and disposition is, and what their real beliefs and affections are. For example, if they are deceivers, even though at the time they are expressing no deceit, the general and specific nature of their deceitfulness is nevertheless perceptible from their every word and idea. It is the same with all other forms of wickedness and evil desires, so much so that there is no need to scrutinize them closely, for the image of every spirit exists in his every word and idea.

[3] One is also able to perceive whether an idea belonging to their speech is closed or open, and to perceive as well what derives from themselves, what comes from others, and what springs from the Lord It is very much like the expressions on the human face, for from a person’s face, without his saying anything, one usually tells whether there is presence, or deceitfulness, or gladness, or natural or else forced cheerfulness, or real friendliness, or bashfulness, or even insanity. Sometimes these things are also apparent from the person’s tone of voice. Why then should the same not be so in the next life where perception is far superior to any discernment such as this? Indeed even before a spirit speaks one knows from his thought alone what he intends to say, since thought flows in more swiftly and sooner than speech does.

AC (Elliott) n. 1641 1641. Spirits in the next life discuss things with one another just as people do on earth. Those who are good do so with all the close intimacy of friendship and love, as I have heard them do many times. They discuss these things in their own manner of speech, in which they express more in a minute than man can in an hour; for as has been stated, their speech is the universal of all languages – a speaking by means of ideas, the first origins of actual words. Their discussion of subjects is so incisive and penetrating, employing so many lines of reasoning which follow in order one after another and which are absolutely convincing, that man would be dumbfounded if he knew of it. They weave persuasion and affection into their discussion and in this way make it live.

[2] Sometimes in their discussions they also employ visual, and thus living representations. Their discussion, for example, may be about shame, and whether shame is possible without reverential awe. Among men this cannot be discussed except through many reasonings based on proofs and examples; and even then it remains in doubt. But with spirits the matter is resolved within a minute by considering the states of the feeling of shame, varied in their sequence, and also the states of reverential awe, and in this way perceiving the agreements and the disagreements, while at the same time seeing these in the representatives woven into the discussion, from which in an instant they perceive the conclusion thus flowing of itself from differences of opinion that are reconciled in this fashion. All other questions are resolved in a similar way. Souls enter into this ability immediately after death, at which time good spirits love nothing more than teaching newcomers and the uninformed.

[3] Spirits themselves do not realize that they speak to one another in so superior a kind of speaking, and that they are furnished with so excellent a gift, unless they are led by the Lord to reflect on the matter, for that speech comes to them naturally and is now instinctive. The situation is like that of a person whose mind is intent on the meaning of things and not on the words he uses and the way he speaks, in that unless he sometimes stops to reflect he is not aware of what kind of speech he is using.

AC (Elliott) n. 1642 1642. Such then is the speech used by spirits; but the speech of angelic spirits is more universal and perfect still, while that of angels is even more universal and perfect than that; for, as stated already, there are three heavens, the first where good spirits are, the second where angelic spirits are, and the third where angels are. The degrees of perfection rise one above another in this way, as things that are more exterior do in relation to more interior, almost – to use a comparison that will enable this point to be seen – as hearing stands in relation to sight, and sight to thought. For that which hearing is able to take in through an hour of speech may be presented to the sight within a minute, such as for example, views of plains, palaces, and cities. And what may be beheld by the eye over many hours may be comprehended by thought within a minute. Such is the measure of difference between the speech of spirits and that of angelic spirits, and between the latter’s speech and that of angels. For angelic spirits acquire a clearer understanding from one single idea comprising speech or thought than spirits do by means of several thousand; and the understanding of angels is similarly greater compared to that of angelic spirits. How must it be then with the Lord, who is the source of all the life of affection, thought, and speech, and who alone is Speech and the Word?

AC (Elliott) n. 1643 1643. The speech of angelic spirits is beyond comprehension, so that the reference to it here is brief, and only to that form of it which is representative. The thing itself which they are discussing is manifested representatively in a wonderful form that takes shape independent of sensory objects, and is varied in countless ways by means of most delightful and beautiful representatives, accompanied by a constant influx of affections from the happy stream of mutual love flowing from the Lord by way of the higher heaven, from which influx every single thing so to speak is made living. Every thing they discuss is manifested in this manner, and by means of continuous series of representatives. Not one in any series can possibly be described intelligibly. These are the things that flow into the spirits’ ideas, but to them are not apparent except as something general flowing in and affecting them. They do not have any clear perception of the things which are clearly perceived by angelic spirits.

AC (Elliott) n. 1644 1644. There are very many evil spirits of an interior kind who do not speak as other spirits do; but they are well acquainted with the first origins from which ideas derive, and so are more subtle than other spirits. Great numbers of such spirits exist, but these have been entirely segregated from angelic spirits and cannot even go near them. These evil spirits who are more subtle also attach their own ideas to outward objects and inner realities in an abstract way, to those however that are filthy; and within those objects and realities they represent to themselves various but filthy things and enfold their own ideas within such things. They are so to speak fools. Their speech has been made known to me and has also been represented as the filthy dregs from a vessel. And that element of their speech which involved the understanding was represented by the hind-quarters of a horse whose fore-parts did not appear, for what belongs to the understanding is represented in the world of spirits by means of horses. The speech of angelic spirits however was represented by means of a virgin who was dressed beautifully in a robe of white neatly gathered at the breast, and who was graceful in the movements of her body.

AC (Elliott) n. 1645 1645. But angels’ speech is beyond description. Being superior to the speech of angelic spirits it is far superior to the speech of spirits, and cannot in any way be understood by man as long as he lives in the body. Spirits in the world of spirits are unable to form any idea of it since it is above that which they are able to perceive in their thought. Angels’ speech does not consist of things represented by means of any ideas like those which spirits and angelic spirits have, but consists of ends in view and of uses flowing from these, which are the first beginnings and the essentials of things. It is into these ends and uses that angelic thoughts are gently introduced, and there they undergo endless variation. And every single part of that speech has within it an interior and happy delight produced by the good of mutual love from the Lord, and that which is beautiful and delightful produced by the truth of faith originating in that good. Ends in view and the uses arising from them are so to speak very delicate recipient vessels, and are delightful and ever-varying spiritual realities existing in celestial and spiritual forms beyond comprehension. In these they are kept by the Lord, for the Lord’s kingdom is wholly a kingdom of ends and uses. For this reason also the angels present with a person pay no attention to anything other than his ends and uses, and elicit nothing else from the person’s thought. All other things, which belong to mental and material levels, they do not care about since these are far beneath their own sphere.

AC (Elliott) n. 1646 1646. The speech of angels is sometimes made to appear visually in the world of spirits, and thus before the interior sight, as shimmering light or a brilliant flame; and that which appears varies in accordance with the state of the affections belonging to their speech. It is merely the general features of their speech so far as the states of affection are concerned – features that arise from countless distinct things – that are represented in this way.

AC (Elliott) n. 1647 1647. The speech of celestial angels is quite distinct and separate from that of spiritual angels, being even more indescribable and beyond words. The things that their thoughts are introduced into are the good and celestial things belonging to ends, and they consequently experience happiness itself. And what is astonishing, their speech is far more abounding since celestial angels are at the very sources and origins of the life of thought and speech.

AC (Elliott) n. 1648 1648. There is also a form of speech among good spirits and among angelic spirits in which many speak simultaneously, especially in gyres or choirs, which will be described in the Lord’s Divine mercy later on I have often heard this speech expressed by those choirs; it has a cadence that sounds rhythmic. They give no thought at all to words or ideas; their feelings flow spontaneously into these. No word or idea enters in which multiplies the meaning, or takes it in another direction, or to which anything artificial is attached, or which has an elegance that is seen by them to originate in self or self-love – all of which things would instantly destroy the spontaneity. These choirs do not fix their minds on any word; their thoughts are on the sense, and their words follow spontaneously from this. They end a passage together in a harmonious and usually simple resolution; and when they end in a complex resolution they move on to the next passage by a change of pitch. These patterns are the product of their thinking and speaking in association, as a consequence of which the form that this speech takes has a cadence that is determined by the manner of association and the unity of the group Songs took this form in the past, and so do the Psalms of David.

AC (Elliott) n. 1649 1649. What is remarkable, speech with a cadence like the rhythmic or harmonic patterns of songs comes naturally to spirits. They speak to one another in this way, though they are not conscious of doing so. Souls enter into that style of speaking immediately after death. I too have been initiated into the same till at length it has become quite familiar. The reason it is of this nature is that they speak as a community, though for the most part they are not conscious of doing so – a very clear sign that all are distinguished into separate communities and that consequently everything takes on the forms of those communities.

AC (Elliott) n. 1650 1650. For a continuation on the subject of the speech of spirits and its variations, see the end of this chapter.

GENESIS 14

1 And so it was in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,

2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

3 All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea

4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth Kamaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

6 And the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness.

7 And they resumed and came to An-mishpat, that is, to Kadesh, and smote all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites inhabiting Hazezon-tamar.

8 And the king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar, and they drew up for battle with them in the valley of Siddim –

9 With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar – four kings with five.

10 And the valley of Siddim was pits after pits of bitumen; and the king of Sodom and [the king] of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there; and the rest fled to the mountain.

11 And they took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food and went their way.

12 And they took Lot and his acquisitions, Abram’s brother’s son, and went their way; and he was dwelling in Sodom.

13 And one who had escaped came and told it to Abram the Hebrew; and he was dwelling among the oak- groves of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshkol, and the brother of Aner; and these men were Abram’s allies.

14 And Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, and he brought out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

15 And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus.

16 And he brought back all the acquisitions, and also Lot his brother and his acquisitions he brought back, and the women and the people as well.

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he had resumed from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley.

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was a priest to God Most High.

19 And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.

20 And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand; and he gave him a tenth of everything.

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people and take the acquisitions for yourself.*

22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand to Jehovah God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.

23 That not a thread, nor even the latchet of a shoe, nor anything that is yours will I take, lest you say, I have made Abram rich.

24 Except for what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who came with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre – these will take their share.
*lit. Give me the soul[s], and keep the acquisition[s] for yourself

AC (Elliott) n. 1651 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1651. CONTENTS

The subject in this chapter is the conflicts constituting the Lord’s temptations, which are represented and meant by the wars described here.

AC (Elliott) n. 1652 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1652. It was from the goods and truths residing with the External Man (which were goods and truths solely in their outward appearance) that the Lord in childhood fought against evils and falsities. Such apparent goods and truths are meant by the kings mentioned in verse 1, while the evils and falsities against which conflict took place are meant by the kings mentioned in verse 2. These evils and falsities were unclean, verse 3.

AC (Elliott) n. 1653 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1653. That these evils and falsities against which He fought did not reveal themselves any earlier than in childhood, and that they burst forth then, is meant by their serving Chedorlaomer, verse 4.

AC (Elliott) n. 1654 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1654. At that time the Lord successfully waged war and overcame all kinds of false persuasions, which are ‘the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim, and the Horites’, verses 5, 6; then He overcame the falsities and evils themselves, which are ‘the Amalekites and the Amorites’, verse 7; and after that the other falsities and evils, which are the kings mentioned in verses 8-11.

AC (Elliott) n. 1655 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1655. Apparent truths and goods, which are not in themselves truths and goods, took possession of the External Man, verse 12. The Rational Man, which is ‘Abram the Hebrew’, on perceiving this, reclaimed it and released it, verses 13-16.

AC (Elliott) n. 1656 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1656. Following those conflicts evil and falsity submitted to Him, verse 17.

AC (Elliott) n. 1657 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1657. The Lord’s Internal Man within the Interior Man, or the Divine within the Rational, is Melchizedek, from whom a blessing came when the conflicts were over, verses 18-20. ‘Tenths’ is the remnants, or states of good and truth acquired from conflicts, verse 20.

AC (Elliott) n. 1658 sRef Gen@14 @0 S0′ 1658. Once conquered, the evil and hellish spirits pleaded for life, and did not care about anything else. But the meaning of the details recorded in verses 21-24 is that the Lord took nothing from them because evils and falsities did not provide Him with any strength, and that the spirits were placed under the power of good spirits and angels.

AC (Elliott) n. 1659 1659. THE INTERNAL SENSE

The details contained in this chapter appear as if they were not representative, for the subject is merely the wars between a number of kings, and Lot’s reclamation by Abram, and, towards the end, Melchizedek; so that these details do not seem to possess a single heavenly arcanum within them. Yet like all such details, these conceal very deep arcana in the internal sense which follow in a continuous sequence from the things preceding them, and also link themselves in a similar sequence to those that follow.

[2] The descriptions which precede have dealt with the Lord and the instruction He received, and also with His External Man which was to be joined to the internal by means of knowledge and cognitions. But because His external Man was such, as has been stated, that from what was inherited from the mother it had within it things which prevented their becoming joined together, things which had first to be cast out by means of conflicts and temptations before His external Man could be united to the Internal – that is, His Human Essence to the Divine Essence – this chapter therefore deals with those conflicts themselves. The latter in the internal sense are represented and meant by the wars which it describes. Within the Church it is well known that Melchizedek represented the Lord, and that the Lord is thus meant in the internal sense when Melchizedek is spoken of. From this one may also conclude that not only such details regarding Melchizedek but all others are indeed representative, for not one small word can have been written in the Word that has not been sent down from heaven and consequently in which angels do not see heavenly things.

[3] In most ancient times furthermore many things were represented by wars, which people called ‘The Wars of Jehovah’. The latter meant nothing other than the conflicts fought by the Church and by those who belonged to the Church, that is, their temptations, which are nothing else than battles and wars against the evils present within themselves and so against the devil’s crew who activate evils and endeavour to destroy the Church and the member of the Church. That wars in the Word have no other meaning becomes quite clear from the fact that the Word cannot have as its subject anything other than the Lord, His kingdom, and the Church, since it is Divine, not human, and consequently heavenly, not worldly. This being so the wars described in the sense of the letter cannot have any other meaning in the internal sense. This may become clearer still from what follows.

AC (Elliott) n. 1660 sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ 1660. Verses 1, 2 And so it was in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

‘So it was in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim’ means just so many kinds of apparent goods and truths which are not in themselves goods and truths, and which were present with the Lord’s External Man – each of the kings and each of the nations meaning some such good or truth. ‘That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar’ means just so many kinds of evil desires and false persuasions against which the Lord fought.

AC (Elliott) n. 1661 sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ 1661. ‘And so it was in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim’ means just so many kinds of apparent goods and truths which are not in themselves goods and truths, and which were present with the Lord’s external Man. This becomes clear from the meaning of all these in the internal sense, and also from what follows. Far the subject is the Lord’s conflict against evils and falsities, here His first conflict which came during His childhood and earliest adolescence. That conflict He first entered into and endured after He had been endowed with knowledge and cognitions, hence the expression ‘in the days of’ these kings.

[2] Nobody can possibly fight against evils and falsities until he knows what evil and falsity are, not therefore until he has received instruction. A person does not know what evil is, still less what falsity is, before he is capable of understanding and of forming judgements for himself, which is the reason why a person does not enter into temptations until he has reached the age of maturity. Thus everyone is tempted in adult life, but the Lord was tempted even in childhood.

[3] Everyone fights first of all from the goods and truths he has received by means of cognitions, and it is from them and by means of them that he forms judgements concerning evils and falsities. Everyone furthermore when he first starts to fight imagines that these goods and truths from which he fights are his own, that is, he ascribes them to himself, and at the same time ascribes to himself the power by which he resists. This is allowed because a person cannot at the time know anything different. Before anyone has been regenerated he cannot possibly know, so as to be able to say that he knows, acknowledges, and believes, that no good or truth at all comes from self, but that everything good and true comes from the Lord; nor can he possibly know that he is unable by his own power to resist any evil or falsity. Indeed he does not know that evil spirits are activating and implanting the evils and falsities, still less that he is in communication with hell by means of evil spirits, and that hell presses on him like the sea against every part of a dike, which he can by no means resist by his own strength. Yet because he cannot do otherwise, until he has been regenerated, than imagine that he resists by his own strength, this too is permitted; and in this condition he is admitted into conflicts, or temptations. Subsequently however he becomes more and more enlightened.

[4] When a person’s state is such that he imagines that good and truth originate in himself and that the power to resist is his own, the goods and truths from which he fights against evils and falsities are not really goods and truths, however much they appear to be so, for they have that which is his own within them, and he places self-merit in victory, boasting as though it were he that had overcome evil and falsity, when in fact it is the Lord alone who fights and overcomes. That this is indeed so none can know except those who are being regenerated by means of temptations.

[5] Because the Lord in earliest childhood was led into very serious conflicts against evils and falsities it was inevitable that at that time even He should think that way. This happened both because it was according to Divine order that His Human Essence should through continuous conflicts and victories be brought to the Divine Essence and united to it, and because the goods and truths from which He fought against evils and falsities belonged to the External Man. And because those goods and truths were not completely Divine they are for that reason called appearances of good and truth. His Divine Essence brought the Human Essence to itself in this way in order that it might overcome by its own power. The arcana here however are more than can possibly be described. In short, in those first conflicts the goods and truths residing with the Lord from which He fought were permeated by things inherited from the mother, and insofar as they were permeated by things inherited from the mother they were not Divine. Gradually however, as He overcame evil and falsity they were purified and made Divine.

AC (Elliott) n. 1662 sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ 1662. That each of the kings and each of the nations means some such good or some such truth becomes clear from the meaning of those nations in the internal sense as applied to the subject under consideration; for every nation and every land means some specific good or truth in general; this applies in the proper sense and in the contrary sense. The general meaning however has reference to the subject under consideration. That apparent goods and truths are meant by the names of these kings and these nations may be confirmed from many places; but since such confirmation has been provided so many times already, and as so many names occur here, it would take too long to explain them all one by one in that way.

AC (Elliott) n. 1663 sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ 1663. ‘That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar’ means just so many kinds of evil desires and false persuasions against which the Lord fought. This too becomes clear from the meaning of these kings and these nations that are mentioned, and from what follows as well. Which particular evil desires and which particular false persuasions are meant by each individual one would also take too long to explain. The meaning of Sodom and Gomorrah, also of Admah and Zeboiim, as well as Zoar, has been dealt with briefly already. They are the most general or most universal kinds of evils and falsities; and these, which are meant in the internal sense, here follow in their own sequence.

[2] The fact that the Lord underwent and suffered the severest of temptations, more severe than anybody else has ever done, is not so well known from the Word, where all that is mentioned is His being in the wilderness forty days and being tempted by the devil. But although the temptations He experienced at that time have been described only briefly, those brief statements nevertheless embody all, as in Mark 1:12, 13, which records that He was there with wild animals, which mean the worst of the hellish crew. And the events afterwards recorded about the devil taking Him up on to the pinnacles of the temple and on to a high mountain are nothing else than representatives of very severe temptations He experienced in the wilderness, which will in the Lord’s Divine mercy be described later on.

AC (Elliott) n. 1664 sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @1 S0′ sRef Rev@16 @14 S1′ 1664. That the wars in this chapter mean in the internal sense nothing other than spiritual conflicts, which are temptations, has been stated already in the preliminary section.* Nor do the wars in the rest of the Word, especially in the Prophets, have any other meaning. Wars waged by men can have no place whatever in the internal parts of the Word, for such things as wars are not the spiritual and celestial things which alone constitute the Word. That ‘wars’ in the Word means conflicts with the devil, or what amounts to the same, with hell, becomes clear from the following places besides many others: In John,

They are spirits of demons, performing signs, to go out to the kings of the land and of the whole earth, to assemble them for the war of that great day of God Almighty. Rev 16:14.

Here anyone may see that no other kind of war on the great day of God Almighty is meant.

sRef Isa@2 @4 S2′ sRef Isa@21 @15 S2′ sRef Rev@13 @7 S2′ sRef Jer@49 @25 S2′ sRef Isa@21 @14 S2′ sRef Rev@12 @7 S2′ sRef Hos@2 @18 S2′ sRef Rev@11 @7 S2′ sRef Jer@49 @26 S2′ sRef Rev@12 @17 S2′ [2] In the same book,

The beast that comes up from the Abyss will make war. Rev. 11:7.

Here ‘the Abyss’ is hell. In the same book,

The dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her seed, who kept the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus Christ. Rev. 12:17.

It** was allowed to make war on the saints. Rev. 13:7.

All these wars are conflicts such as constitute temptations. Nor are the wars of the kings of the south and of the north, and the other wars of Dan. 8 and 11, and also those involving Michael, Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Rev. 12:7, anything different.

sRef Deut@1 @30 S3′ sRef Ezek@13 @5 S3′ sRef Deut@20 @4 S3′ [3] That wars have no other meaning is clear from the rest of the Prophets as well, as in Ezekiel,

You have not gone up into the breaches and made a hedge for the house of Israel, to stand in war on the day of Jehovah. Ezek. 13:5.

This refers to the prophets. In Isaiah,

They will beat their swords into hoes, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any more. Isa. 2:4.

Clearly no other wars [than spiritual wars] are meant here, and therefore instruments of war, such as swords, spears, shields, and many others, mean nothing else in the Word than things that belong to such wars.

sRef Josh@5 @14 S4′ sRef Jer@6 @5 S4′ sRef Jer@6 @3 S4′ sRef Josh@5 @13 S4′ sRef Jer@6 @4 S4′ sRef Num@21 @14 S4′ sRef Isa@42 @13 S4′ sRef Isa@31 @4 S4′ [4] In the same prophet,

To the thirsty bring water; O inhabitants of the land of Tema, meet with his bread the fugitive,*** for they will flee**** before the swords, before the drawn sword, and before the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. Isa. 21:14, 15.

In Jeremiah,

Shepherds and their flocks will come against the daughter of Zion, they will pitch their tents against her round about; they will graze, each off his own space. Declare a sacred war against her; arise and let us go up at noon. Jer. 6:3-5.

Here, since it is waged against ‘the daughter of Zion’, that is, the Church, no other kind of war is meant.

[5] In the same prophet,

How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of My joy? Therefore her young men will tall in her streets, and all the men of war will be cut down on that day. Jer. 49:25, 26.

‘The city of praise and of joy’ stands for the things that belong to the Church, ‘the men of war’ for those who fight.

[6] In Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air,***** and with the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish****** the bow, and the sword, and war from the land, and I will make them lie down in safety. Hosea 2:18.

Here similarly ‘war’ stands for conflicts, and the various instruments of war stand for the things belonging to spiritual conflict which are ‘broken’ when a person comes into the calmness of peace as evil desires and falsities come to an end.

sRef Ps@76 @3 S7′ sRef Ps@46 @9 S7′ sRef Ps@76 @2 S7′ sRef Ps@46 @8 S7′ [7] In David,

Behold the works of Jehovah who makes solitary places in the earth, making wars cease even to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and snaps the spear, He burns the chariots with fire. Ps. 46:8, 9.

Here too the meaning is similar. In the same author,

In Salem is the dwelling-place of God, and His habitation in Zion. There He broke the bow’s fiery arrows, the shield and the sword, and war. Ps. 76:2, 3.

Because the priests represented the Lord who alone fights on man’s behalf, their duties are called military service, Num. 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47.

[8] It is a constant truth that Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord, fights and overcomes the devil present with a person when he is involved in the conflicts brought by temptations, even though to that person this does not appear to be so. For evil spirits have no power at all to exert the slightest influence on man unless they are permitted to do so, and angels cannot act to avert anything at all unless enabled to do so by the Lord. Thus it is the Lord alone who endures every conflict and overcomes, something that was also represented at various times by the wars that the children of Israel waged against the nations. That He alone does so is also stated in Moses,

Jehovah your God is going******* before you, He Himself will fight for you. Deut. 1:30.

In the same book,

Jehovah your God is going******* with you to fight for you with your enemies, to save you. Deut. 20:4.

[9] So too in Joshua, such as 23:3, 5. For all the wars that were being waged at that time against the idolatrous inhabitants of the land of Canaan represented the Lord’s conflicts with hell, and consequently the conflicts of His Church, and of members of the Church. This also accords with the following statements in Isaiah,

As the lion roars, and the young lion, over its prey (when a multitude of shepherds run towards him he is not dismayed by their voice nor daunted by the tumult they make) so Jehovah Zebaoth will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill. Isa. 31:4.

sRef Ex@15 @3 S10′ [10] For the same reasons also Jehovah, or the Lord, is called ‘a Man of War’, as in Moses,

Jehovah is a Man of War, Jehovah is His name. Exod. 15:3.

In Isaiah,

Jehovah will go forth as a Mighty Man, as a Man of Wars. He will stir up zeal; He will cry out, yes, He will shout aloud, He will prevail over His enemies. Isa. 42:13.

This also is why many things that war entails are attributed to the Lord, such as ‘crying out’, and ‘shouting aloud’ here.

[11] Spirits and angels also appear as men of war, when a representation is being made, as in Joshua,

Joshua lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, a man was standing before him, with his sword drawn in his hand. He said to Joshua, I am the Prince of the army of Jehovah; and Joshua fell on his face******** to the earth. Josh. 5:13, 14.

These things were seen taking the form they did because they were representative, and this also is why descendants of Jacob called their wars the Wars of ]Jehovah.

It was similar in the Ancient Churches among whom there were books which also were called The Wars of Jehovah, as is clear in Moses.

It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. Num. 21:14, 15.

These were written about in a way not unlike the wars described in this chapter; but wars involving the Church were meant. Such a manner of writing was common in those times, for they were interior men and their thoughts were of more exalted things.
* i.e. in 1659
** i.e. the beast
*** lit. the wanderer
**** lit. they will wander
***** lit.. bird of the heavens (or the skies)
****** lit. break
******* lit. walking
******** lit. faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1665 sRef Gen@14 @3 S0′ 1665. Verse 3 All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.

‘All these were gathered together at the valley of Siddim’ means that they were immersed in the unclean things that go with evil desires. ‘Which is the Salt Sea’ means the foul things that accompany derivative falsities.

AC (Elliott) n. 1666 sRef Gen@14 @4 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @3 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @10 S1′ 1666. That ‘all [these] were gathered together at the valley of Siddim’ means that they were immersed in the unclean things that go with evil desires becomes clear from the meaning of ‘the valley of Siddim’, dealt with below at verse 10, which says that ‘the valley of Siddim was pits after pits of bitumen’, that is, it was full of bitumen-pits, which mean the filthy and unclean things that go with evil desires, 1299. The same may be seen from the fact that Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim meant evil desires and false persuasions, which are by their very nature unclean. That they are unclean anyone inside the Church may see; and in the next life it is clearly seen in what happens there. Spirits such as are immersed in these unclean things desire nothing better than to spend their time in places full of stagnant water, mire, and excrement, so that their very disposition carries such things with it. The emanation of such unclean things from them is detected as soon as they come near the sphere of good spirits, especially when they desire to infest the good, that is, to band together and attack them. All this shows what is meant by the valley of Siddim.

[2] ‘Which is the Salt Sea’ means the foul things which accompany derivative falsities. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘the Salt Sea’, which would seem to be the same place as ‘the valley of Siddim’, for the words used are ‘the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea’. But the latter phrase has been added for the reason that ‘the Salt Sea’ means the falsities that burst forth from evil desires; indeed not one such desire exists which does not produce falsities. The life belonging to evil desires may be compared to a coal fire, and the falsities to the dim light that comes from it. Just as fire cannot exist without light, neither can evil desire do so without falsity. Every evil desire stems from some filthy love, for that which is loved is desired and is therefore called desire, the desire itself containing within itself an extension of that particular love. And what favors or supports that love or desire is called falsity. This shows why the phrase ‘the Salt Sea’ has here been added to ‘the valley of Siddim’.

sRef Jer@17 @5 S3′ sRef Jer@17 @6 S3′ sRef Zeph@2 @9 S3′ sRef Ps@107 @33 S3′ sRef Ps@107 @34 S3′ sRef Deut@29 @23 S3′ sRef Ezek@47 @11 S3′ [3] Since evil desires and falsities are what vastate a person, that is, deprive him of all the life belonging to the love of good and to the affection for truth, such vastation is described in various places as a salt region, as in Jeremiah,

He who makes flesh his arm will be like a bare shrub in the solitary place, and will not see when good comes; and he will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land, and not inhabited. Jer. 17:5, 6.

In Ezekiel,

Its swamps and its marshes are not healed, they will be given up to salt. Ezek. 47:11.

In David,

Jehovah turns rivers into a wilderness, and the outgoings of waters into a dryness, a fruitful land into a salty waste because of the wickedness of those inhabiting it. Ps. 107:33, 34.

In Zephaniah,

Moab will be like Sodom, and the children of Ammon like Gomorrah, a place abandoned to the nettle, and a saltpit, and a desolation for ever. Zeph. 2:9.

[4] In Moses,

The whole land will be brimstone and salt, a burning; it will not be sown, and it will not sprout, nor will any plant come up on it, as at the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, of Admah and Zeboiim. Deut. 29:23.

‘The whole land will be brimstone and salt, a burning’ stands for goods and truths that have been vastated – ‘brimstone’ for the vastation of good, ‘salt’ for the vastation of truth. Indeed heat and saltiness are destructive of the land and its crops in the way that evil desire is destructive of goods, and falsity of truths. Since ‘salt’ meant vastation, it was also customary to sow the cities they had destroyed with salt, to prevent their being rebuilt, as in Judg. 9:45. Salt is also used in the contrary sense to mean that which renders fertile, and that which so to speak adds flavor.

[1666a] Verse 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

‘Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer’ means that evils and falsities did not reveal themselves in childhood but were subservient to apparent goods and truths. ‘And in the thirteenth year they rebelled’ means the onset of temptations in childhood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1667 sRef Gen@14 @4 S0′ 1667. That ‘twelve years they served Chedorlaomer’ means that evils and falsities did not reveal themselves in childhood but were subservient to apparent goods and truths is clear from the representation and meaning of Chedorlaomer, and also from the meaning of those who were subservient to him, as explained above at verses 1, 2, and from the meaning of ‘twelve’ as well. Chedorlaomer together with those mentioned above in verse 1 mean apparent goods and truths present with the Lord – thus His External Man as regards those things. Here Chedorlaomer stands for all who are named in verse 1 taken together, as is clear in addition from what follows, and also from the fact that he was king of Elam, the meaning of which has been dealt with already, namely faith deriving from charity, and here therefore truth and good. For faith and things belonging to faith are nothing but truths, while charity and things belonging to charity are nothing but goods

[2] Here however they are the goods that belong to earliest childhood, which though they appear to be goods are not in fact goods as long as hereditary evil is befouling them, for they have ingrained in them and clinging to them that which derives from self-love and love of the world. Whatever belongs to self-love or love of the world appears at the time to be good, but it is not. Nevertheless it must still be called good during the time it resides in an infant or child who as yet does not know what is truly good. Their ignorance or lack of knowledge excuses it, and their innocence makes it appear as good. The situation is different however when a person has undergone instruction and knows what good and evil are. Such good and truth as exist with a child before instruction is meant by Chedorlaomer.

[3] Their being subservient for twelve years means the whole time that such good and truth remain, for in the internal sense ‘twelve’ means all things constituting the faith that belongs to charity, that is, faith springing from charity, as also with Elam in Gen. 10:22. And as long as such good and truth reside in a person, whether in childhood or in any other period of his life, evils and falsities can achieve nothing, that is, evil spirits do not dare to do anything or to initiate anything evil, as is quite evident in the case of infants, well-behaved children, and simple hearted people. With them, even though evil spirits, that is, the worst of the devil’s crew, were present they could nevertheless achieve absolutely nothing but are held in subjection, which is the meaning here of their being subservient for twelve years to Chedorlaomer.

aRef Matt@24 @28 S4′ [4] The reason they are kept in subjection during that time and are subservient is that the individual has not yet acquired to himself a sphere of evil desires and of falsities. Indeed evil spirits and genii are not allowed to operate except into those things a person has acquired through his own actions, not into those he has by heredity. Consequently before a person acquires such spheres to himself, evil spirits are subservient; but as soon as he does acquire them, those evil spirits present with him stream in and try to gain dominion, for they are then situated within his own sphere, and there find a certain delight or their very life – ‘where the carcass is there will the eagles be gathered together’.*
* Matt. 24:28

AC (Elliott) n. 1668 sRef Gen@14 @4 S0′ 1668. ‘And in the thirteenth year they rebelled’ means the onset of temptations in childhood. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the thirteenth year’ and from the meaning of ‘rebelling’ – the thirteenth year coming between the twelfth and fourteenth. What is meant by twelve has been stated already, and what is meant by fourteen is to follow. ‘Thirteen’ is the interval between the time when there is no temptation and the time when there is. What ‘rebelling’ means becomes clear when it is used in reference to the evils present with a person, or to evil spirits, when they have been held in subjection or are subservient and then start to rise up and infest.

[2] Evils, or evil spirits, are in rebellion to the extent that a person who wishes to be governed by goods and truths confirms within himself certain evils and falsities, that is, to the extent that evil desires and falsities introduce themselves into his goods and truths. It is in evil desires and falsities that the life of evil spirits consists, but in goods and truths that the life of angels consists; and from this, infestation and conflict arise. This is so with all who have conscience, and was all the more so with the Lord when a boy, who had perception. With those who have conscience a dull pain arises, but with those who have perception intense pain; and the more interior the perception, the more intense is that pain. From this it becomes clear what the temptation of the Lord, who had interior and inmost perception, was like in comparison with men’s.

AC (Elliott) n. 1669 sRef Gen@14 @5 S0′ 1669. Verse 5 And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings who were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim. ‘In the fourteenth year’ means the first temptation. ‘Chedorlaomer came’ means apparent good in the External Man. ‘And the kings who were with him’ means the apparent truth that goes with that good. ‘And smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim’ means false persuasions or the hells of such persuasions which the Lord overcame.

AC (Elliott) n. 1670 sRef Gen@14 @5 S0′ 1670. That ‘in the fourteenth year’ means the first temptation becomes clear from the meaning of ‘fourteen’ or the end of the second week, dealt with in 728, where a period of seven days or one week means the onset of temptation. A period of fourteen days or two weeks has the same meaning. Here the year is called ‘the fourteenth’ because it looks back to the preceding twelve referred to in the previous verse, which mean, as stated, the period of childhood.

AC (Elliott) n. 1671 sRef Gen@14 @5 S0′ 1671. ‘Chedorlaomer came’ means apparent good in the External Man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Chedorlaomer’, dealt with in the previous verse, as apparent good and truth – here good alone, because the words are also added, ‘and the kings who were with him’, by whom truth is meant.

AC (Elliott) n. 1672 sRef Gen@14 @5 S0′ 1672. ‘And the kings who were with him’ means the apparent truth that goes with that good. This is clear from the meaning of ‘kings’ in the Word. Kings, kingdoms, and peoples in the historical and prophetical sections of the Word mean truths and the things that belong to truths, as may be confirmed from many places. In the Word a careful distinction is made between people and nation, ‘people’ meaning truths, ‘nation’ goods, as shown already in 1259, 1260. Kings have reference to peoples, and not so much to nations. The children of Israel, before they sought to have kings, were ‘a nation’ and represented good, or that which is celestial; but after they desired a king and received one, they became ‘a people’ and represented not good or that which is celestial, but truth or that which is spiritual, and this was the reason why this was ascribed to them as a fault in 1 Sam. 8:7-end. This, in the Lord’s Divine mercy, will be explained elsewhere. In the present verse, since ‘Chedorlaomer’ is referred to, and then the phrase ‘the kings who were with him’ is added, both good and truth are meant – good by ‘Chedorlaomer’ and truth by ‘the kings’. But what kind of good and truth it was when the Lord’s temptations first began has been stated above.

AC (Elliott) n. 1673 sRef Gen@14 @5 S0′ 1673. ‘And they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim’ means false persuasions or the hells of such persuasions which the Lord overcame. This is clear from the meaning of the Rephaim, the Zuzim, and the Emim, as those of a similar kind to the Nephilim mentioned in Gen. 6:4 – the Nephilim, as was shown more than adequately at that verse, meaning false persuasions or those people who because they were persuaded of their own superiority and pre-eminence regarded all things that were holy and true as worthless, and who plunged falsities into evil desires, see 581 – and from the following places quoted in that paragraph, Num. 13:33; Deut. 2:10; Isa. 14:9; 26:14, 19; Ps. 88:10. Here it is the different kinds of false persuasions that are meant by these three, and also by ‘the Horites in Mount Seir’, for there are many kinds of false persuasions, each kind varying not only according to the falsities but also according to the evil desires to which those falsities are allied or into which they are plunged, or from which they stem and are produced. The nature of such false persuasions cannot possibly become clear to anyone who knows scarcely anything more about false persuasion or evil desire than that such things exist; but in the next life they are arranged quite distinctly and separately into their own genera and their own species.

sRef Isa@26 @14 S2′ [2] Among those who lived before the Flood, especially among those called the Nephilim, most dreadful false persuasions existed. The Nephilim were such that in the next life by their persuasions they deprive other spirits they encounter of their whole ability to think. As a result it seems to those spirits as though they are scarcely alive, let alone capable of thinking anything true. For in the next life, as has been shown, there is a communication of the thoughts of all; and therefore when persuasiveness such as this flows in, it inevitably kills so to speak all power to think that the others have. Such were the unspeakably horrible nations against whom the Lord fought in earliest childhood and whom He overcame. And unless the Lord by His Coming into the world had overcome them, nobody at all would be alive today on this planet, for everyone is governed by the Lord through spirits. Today those same people, on account of their delusions, are hemmed in all round by what looks like a misty rock, out of which they are constantly endeavouring to rise up, though to no avail – see 1265-1272, and in many places before that. They and their like are also the people meant by Isaiah,

The dead will not live, the Rephaim will not rise. To the end that You have visited and destroyed them, and wiped out all remembrance of them. Isa. 26:14.

sRef Ps@88 @10 S3′ [3] And in David,

Will you work a wonder for the dead? Will the Rephaim rise up and confess You? Ps. 88:10.

‘The dead’ here is not used to mean the dead but the condemned. At the present day too, especially from the Christian world, there are people who in a similar way have persuasions, but not of so dreadful a nature as those possessed by people before the Flood. False persuasions which occupy both the will and the understanding parts of man’s mind – as did the persuasions of those before the Flood, and of those meant by the Rephaim, Zuzim, and Emim – are of one kind. But false persuasions that occupy only the understanding part, having their origin in false assumptions confirmed within oneself, are of another kind. The latter kind are not so powerful as the former, nor so deadly, but they nevertheless cause much annoyance to the other spirits in the next life, partially taking away from them their capacity to think. Spirits such as these arouse in man outright confirmations of falsity, so that a person inevitably sees falsity as truth, and evil as good. It is their sphere which is of such a nature. As soon as any truth is called forth by angels those spirits smother and extinguish it.

[4] A person can discover whether such spirits govern him by merely considering whether he thinks the truths of the Word to be falsities and confirms himself in this so that he is not able to see otherwise. He can in that case be quite sure that such spirits reside with him and have dominion. It is similar with those who persuade themselves that all private gain is the common good, and who imagine that nothing contributes to the common good if it is not to their own private gain. Evil spirits residing with such a person supply so many confirmations that he does not see otherwise. Such people as regard all private gain as the common good, or who disguise it with the appearance of its being the common good, in the next life act in much the same way with regard to the common good there. That this is the nature of the influx of the spirits residing with man I have been given to know to the life from uninterrupted experience.

AC (Elliott) n. 1674 sRef Gen@14 @6 S0′ 1674. Verse 6 And the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness.

‘The Horites in their Mount Seir’ means false persuasions deriving from self-love. ‘As far as El-paran, which is over into the wilderness’ means the range of their extension.

AC (Elliott) n. 1675 sRef Gen@14 @6 S0′ 1675. That ‘the Horites in their Mount Seir’ means false persuasions deriving from self-love is clear from the meaning of ‘the Horites’ and from the meaning of ‘Seir’. As for the Horites, they were the people who dwelt on Mount Seir, as is clear from Gen. 36:8, 20, and following verses, where Esau, who is called Edom, is the subject. Esau or Edom in the genuine sense means the Lord as regards His Human Essence. He is also represented by Esau or Edom, as becomes clear from many places in both the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word, to be dealt with, in the Lord’s Divine mercy, later on. Because ‘the Horites’ represented people who are under the influence of false persuasions, and because representatives at that time occurred within actual events, therefore the expulsion of the Horites from Mount Seir by the descendants of Esau had a similar representation.

sRef Deut@33 @2 S2′ sRef Deut@33 @3 S2′ sRef Deut@2 @21 S2′ sRef Deut@2 @22 S2′ sRef Deut@2 @20 S2′ [2] These are spoken of in Moses as follows,

This also is considered to be a land of Rephaim; Rephaim dwelt formerly in it, and the Ammonites called them Zamzummim; they were a people great and many and tall like the Anakim. And Jehovah destroyed them from before them; and they dispossessed them, and dwelt in their place. He did the same for the sons of Esau who dwelt in Seir, in that He destroyed the Horites from before them, and they dispossessed them, and dwelt in their place. Deut. 2:20-22.

These things represent and mean the same as what the present verse says about Chedorlaomer, namely that ‘Chedorlaomer and the kings with him smote the Horites in Mount Seir’. For, as has been stated, Chedorlaomer represents the Lord’s Good and Truth during childhood, and so the Lord’s Human Essence at that time as regards Good and Truth, by which He destroyed false persuasions, that is, the hells filled with so devilish a crew, which set out to destroy the world of spirits, and consequently the human race, with its false persuasions.

sRef Num@24 @18 S3′ sRef Num@24 @17 S3′ [3] And because Esau or Edom represented the Lord as regards the Human Essence, Mount Seir also, and Paran as well, represented those things that belonged to His Human Essence, namely the celestial things of love, as is clear from the blessing uttered by Moses,

Jehovah came from Sinai, and dawned from Seir upon them; He shone from Mount Paran, and came out of myriads of holiness. From His right hand came a fiery law for them. He indeed loves the peoples. Deut. 33:2, 3.

‘Jehovah dawned from Mount Seir and shone from Mount Paran’ means nothing else than the Lord’s Human Essence. Anyone may see that ‘dawning from Mount Seir and shining from Mount Paran’ does not mean mountains and their inhabitants but Divine realities, thus the celestial things of the Lord’s Human Essence, from which Jehovah is said to have dawned and to have shone.

sRef Judg@5 @5 S4′ sRef Judg@5 @4 S4′ [4] As for ‘Seir’, its meaning is clear from the Song of Deborah and Barak in the Book of Judges,

O Jehovah, when You went forth from Seir, when You set out from the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens also dropped, the clouds indeed dropped water, the mountains flowed down, this Sinai before Jehovah God of Israel. Judg. 5:4, 5.

Here ‘going forth from Seir and setting out from the field of Edom’ has no other meaning.

[5] This is plainer still in Moses in the prophetic utterance of Balaam, who was one of the sons of the east, that is, he came from Syria where a residue of the Ancient Church existed,

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star will arise out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise up out of Israel. And Edom will be an inheritance and Seir will be an inheritance of his enemies. Num. 24:17, 18.

Here ‘seeing Him, but not now; beholding Him, but not near’ is the Lord’s Coming into the world – His Human Essence being called ‘a star that would arise out of Jacob’, and also ‘Edom’ and ‘Seir’. That neither Edom nor Seir were to be the inheritance may become clear to anyone. ‘Seir, the inheritance of his enemies’ or ‘The mountain of his enemies’ has the same meaning as in many other places where it is said that enemies were to be driven out and possession was to be taken of their land.

sRef Hab@3 @3 S6′ [6] That Mount Paran, or El-paran, mentioned in this verse also has the same meaning is clear from Habakkuk as well,

God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His fame has covered the heavens, and the earth has been filled with His praise. Hab. 3:3.

It should be realized however that mountains and lands have and take their meaning from their inhabitants, from the Horites when these dwelt there, and when they had been driven out, from those who drove them out, such as from Esau or Edom, or else from some others. Mount Paran is used therefore in both senses, the genuine and the contrary. In the genuine sense it stands for the Lord’s Human Essence, in the contrary sense for self-love. The Lord’s Human Essence is celestial love itself, while the contrary to celestial love is self-love. Thus ‘the Horites’ in this verse means false persuasions deriving from self-love.

[7] There are false persuasions that originate in self-love, and there are false persuasions that originate in love of the world. The former persuasions – those originating in self-love – are the most foul, whereas those originating in love of the world are not so foul. The former, or false persuasions originating in self-love, are the very opposite of the celestial things of love, whereas the latter, or false persuasions originating in love of the world, are the opposite of the spiritual things of love. Persuasions originating in self-love carry with them the desire to rule over all things, and insofar as the restraints placed upon them are loosened they hasten to fulfill that desire, even to the extent of desiring to rule over the entire universe, and, as has been shown, over Jehovah as well. Consequently persuasions of that kind are not tolerated at all in the next life. But persuasions originating in love of the world do not go so far. They do not go beyond the insanity of not being satisfied with their lot. They vainly strive after heavenly joy, and wish to acquire other people’s goods, but are not so intent on ruling. But the differences among these persuasions are countless.

AC (Elliott) n. 1676 sRef Gen@14 @6 S0′ 1676. ‘As far as El-paran which is over into the wilderness’ means the range of their extension. This becomes clear from the fact that the Horites were smitten and made to flee as far as that place. The wilderness of Paran is mentioned in Gen. 21:21; Num. 10:12; 12:16; 13:3, 26; Deut. 1:1. What ‘El-paran which is in the wilderness’ means here cannot be easily explained beyond this, that the Lord’s first victory over the hells meant by those nations did not as yet extend any further. But how far it did extend is meant by ‘El-paran which is over into the wilderness’.

[2] Anyone who has not been given to know heavenly arcana may imagine that there was no necessity for the Lord’s Coming into the world to fight with the hells, and by means of the temptations He suffered to war successfully against them and overcome them, since Divine Omnipotence could at any point have subdued them and confined them to their own particular hells. That it was nevertheless necessary stands as an unchanging truth. To disclose merely the most general aspects of those arcana however would take up a whole work, and would also provide opportunities for reasonings about Divine mysteries which, though disclosed, people’s minds would not grasp. Nor would the majority wish to grasp them.

[3] It is enough therefore if people know and, since it is so, believe it to be an eternal truth that unless the Lord had come into the world and by means of the temptations which He suffered had overcome and conquered the hells, the human race would have perished, and that if He had not done so none who have lived on this planet even from the time of the Most Ancient Church could have been saved.

AC (Elliott) n. 1677 sRef Gen@14 @7 S0′ 1677. Verse 7 And they returned and came to An-mishpat, that is, to Kadesh, and smote all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites inhabiting Hazezon-tamar.

‘They returned and came to An-mishpat, that is, to Kadesh’ means a continuation. ‘And they smote all the territory of the Amalekites’ means kinds of falsities. ‘And also the Amorites inhabiting Hazezon-tamar’ means kinds of evils derived from these.

AC (Elliott) n. 1678 sRef Gen@14 @7 S0′ 1678. That ‘they returned and came to An-mishpat, that is, to Kadesh’ means a continuation is clear from what comes before and after. The subject at this point is falsities and derivative evils, falsities being meant by ‘the Amalekites’ and derivative evils by ‘the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar’. ‘Kadesh’ means truths, and also strife over truths. The subject at this point being the falsities and derivative evils which the Lord overcame in the first of His conflicts, the expression ‘An-mishpat, that is, Kadesh’ is used, for there was strife over truths.

sRef Ezek@47 @19 S2′ [2] That ‘Kadesh’ means truths over which there is strife is clear in Ezekiel where the boundaries of the Holy Land are described,

The corner of the south southwards will be from Tamar to the waters of Meriboth (strife) Kadesh. an inheritance towards the Great Sea, and the corner of the south southwards. Ezek. 47:19; 48:28.

Here ‘the south’ stands for the light of truth. Its boundary, by which strife over truths is meant, is called ‘Kadesh’.

[3] Kadesh was also the place where Moses struck the rock from which water came out, water that was called Meribah on account of the strife there, Num. 20:1, 2, 11, 13. ‘A rock’, as is well known, means the Lord, and ‘water’ in the internal sense of the Word means spiritual things, which are truths. They were called ‘the waters of Meribah’ because there was strife over them The fact that they were also called ‘the waters of the strife of Kadesh’ is clear in Moses,

You rebelled against My Word* in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, in that you sanctified Me by the waters in their eyes. These are the waters of the strife of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. Num. 27:14; Deut. 32:51.

It was likewise to Kadesh that the spies returned from the land of Canaan, and it was there that those who were unwilling to enter the land murmured and strove, Num. 13:26.

[4] From these references it is clear that An-mishpat, or the fountain of judgement or the fountain of Mishpat-Kadesh, means strife over truths, and thus a continuation. Since the details here are historically true and so describe actual events, it may seem as though such things were not represented or meant by the places which Chedorlaomer came to and by the nations that he smote. All historical details in the Word however are representative and carry a spiritual meaning, and this applies both to places and to nations, and to accomplished facts as well, as becomes quite clear from everything that appears both in the historical and the prophetical sections of the Word.
* lit. My Mouth

AC (Elliott) n. 1679 sRef Gen@14 @7 S0′ 1679. ‘And they smote all the territory of the Amalekites’ means kinds of falsities. This is clear from the representation and meaning of the ‘Amalekite’ nation, for all the nations that were in the land of Canaan represented kinds of falsities and evils, as will be clear, in the Lord’s Divine mercy, from what follows. ‘The Amalekites’ means falsities, ‘the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar’ evils deriving from falsities. That ‘the Amalekites’ means falsities which assail truths becomes clear from what is mentioned regarding the Amalekites in Exod. 17:13-end; Num. 13:29; 24:20; Deut 25:17-19; Judg. 5:14; 1 Sam. 15:1-end; 27:8; Ps. 83:7, 8.

[2] The Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Horites, referred to in verses 5, 6, mean false persuasions that have their origins in desires for evil, that is, in evils, whereas here ‘the Amalekites and the Amorites in Hazezon-tamar’ means falsities from which evils derive. Falsity deriving from evil is one thing, falsity and evil deriving from that falsity another. Falsities spring either from evil desires which belong to the will or from accepted ideas which belong to the understanding. Falsities that spring from evil desires belonging to the will are foul and do not easily allow themselves to be rooted out, for they cling to a person’s life itself. A person’s life itself is that which desires, that is, which loves. As long as he is making that life firm within himself, that is, confirming that desire or love, all things of a confirmatory nature are false and are implanted in his life. Such were the people before the Flood.

[3] Falsities however which spring from accepted ideas belonging to the understanding cannot be rooted in the same way in the will part of man’s mind. Like false or heretical doctrines, these have their origin outside of the will, coming instead from the absorption of such matters in early childhood, and after that from the confirmation of them in adult years. Yet because they are false they inevitably produce evils of life. For example, when anyone believes that he merits salvation through works and confirms himself in that belief, a sense of merit, of his own righteousness, and of assurance [of salvation] are the evils that result from it. On the other hand, when anyone believes that a truly devout life is not possible unless merit is attached to works, the evil which results from that belief is that he destroys all such devoutness in himself and gives himself up to evil desires and pleasures. It is the same with many other examples that could be taken. Such are the falsities and derivative evils dealt with in this verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1680 sRef Gen@14 @7 S0′ 1680. ‘And also the Amorites inhabiting Hazezon-tamar’ means kinds of evils derived from this. This is clear from what has just been stated and also from the representation and meaning of ‘the Amorites’, dealt with at verse 16 of the next chapter. As for the evils and falsities against which the Lord fought, it should be recognized that they were spirits from hell who were ruled by evils and falsities, that is, they were hells that were full of such things, hells which were infesting the human race constantly. Those in hell have but one desire, to destroy everyone; and they find nothing more pleasurable than inflicting torture on others.

[2] All spirits in the next life are distinguished as follows: Those who wish evil on others are hellish or devilish spirits, whereas those who will good to others are good and angelic spirits. A person may know whom he is among, whether among those from hell or those who are angelic, from this: If he intends evil to his neighbour, thinks nothing but evil regarding him, and when possible actually does it, and takes delight in this, he is among spirits from hell and also becomes one himself in the next life. The person however who intends good to his neighbour, thinks nothing but good regarding him, and when possible actually does it, is among angelic spirits, and also becomes an angel in the next life. This is how one spirit is to be distinguished from another; so let the individual examine himself in this way to discover what he himself is really like.

[3] Refraining from evil when one is unable to do it or when one dare not do it amounts in the end to nothing; and doing good for selfish reasons also amounts to nothing. These are external considerations that are taken away in the next life. There it is a person’s thought and intention that determine what he is. There are many spirits who because they were accustomed to do so in the world are able to speak virtuously, but it is discerned in an instant whether their mind or intention is in agreement with what they say. If it is not, a person is cast away among spirits in hell who are of his own genus and species.

AC (Elliott) n. 1681 sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ 1681. Verses 8, 9 And the king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar, and they drew up for battle with them in the valley of Siddim – with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar – four kings with five.

‘The king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar’ means, as previously, evils and falsities which reign generally. ‘And they drew up for battle with them’ means that they made an attack. ‘In the valley of Siddim’ here, as previously, means uncleanness. ‘With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar’ means truths and goods in the External Man, ‘Chedorlaomer king of Elam’ meaning truths, ‘Tidal king of Goiim’ goods, and the other two those that are derivatives from these. ‘Four kings with five’ means the union existing with the latter four and the lack of union with the other five.

AC (Elliott) n. 1682 sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ 1682. ‘The king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar’ means evils and falsities which reign generally. This is clear from what was stated above at verse 2 about the same kings being evil desires and false persuasions. In that place those same kings meant all evils and all falsities in general, or what amounts to the same, evil desires and false persuasions, and therefore it was said that war was made with them. The subject after that turned to war with the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and Horites, and also with the Amalekites and Amorites, and finally with these kings who were named at the beginning. Here therefore these same kings mean solely the reigning evils and falsities that belong to a lower degree.

AC (Elliott) n. 1683 sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ 1683. That ‘they drew up for battle with them’ means that they made an attack is clear from the meaning of ‘drawing up for battle’ as making an assault, for in verses 3, 4 above it is said that they rebelled. The same is also evident from the consideration that evil spirits are the ones who attack. For the truth of the matter is that the Lord never began the conflict with any hell, but that the hells attacked Him, as is also the case with everyone who undergoes temptation, that is, is engaged in conflict with evil spirits. Never in man’s case do the angels make the attack, but it is always and constantly the evil or hellish spirits who do so. The angels merely ward off and defend. This disposition comes from the Lord, who never wishes to afflict anyone with evil or thrust him down into hell, not even if he were the worst and bitterest enemy of all. It is the person who afflicts himself with evil and so rushes into hell. This also follows from the very nature of evil and the very nature of good. The inherent nature of evil is to wish to injure everyone, but the inherent nature of good is to injure none. The evil are acting in conformity with their own life when they are attacking, for their constant desire is to destroy. The good are acting in conformity with their own life when they attack nobody, and when they can be of use in defending others from evils.

AC (Elliott) n. 1684 sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ 1684. ‘In the valley of Siddim’ means uncleanness. This is clear from what has been stated at verse 3 above about the valley of Siddim and the Salt Sea.

AC (Elliott) n. 1685 sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ 1685. ‘With Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar’ means truths and goods in the External Man. This is clear from the meaning of the same four in verse 1 of this chapter.

[l685a] That ‘Chedorlaomer king of Elam’ means truths and ‘Tidal king of Goiim’ goods, and the other two those that are derivatives from these, is clear from the fact that the same kings are listed here in a different order from what they are in verse 1 above. There Chedorlaomer king of Elam stands in third position but here in first, while Tidal king of Goiim stands in fourth position there but in second here. It is truth that goes into battle first, for the battle is fought from truth since it is from the truth that a person recognizes what falsity is and what evil is. Such conflicts never arise therefore until a person has been endowed with knowledge and cognitions of truth and good. Hence ‘Chedorlaomer’, who is here mentioned first, means the truth that resided with the Lord. The same is also clear from the meaning of ‘Elam’ as faith deriving from charity, which amounts to the same thing as truth, as shown already at Chapter 10:22. From this it follows that ‘Tidal king of Goiim (or Nations)’ means good, and that the other two kings mean truths and goods that derive from the good and truth meant by Chedorlaomer and Tidal.

AC (Elliott) n. 1686 sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @9 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @8 S0′ 1686. ‘Four kings with five’ means the union existing with the latter four and the lack of union with the other five. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘four’ and from the meaning of ‘five’. Consisting of two pairs, ‘four’ means union, as also does two when it has regard to things that are married, as also noted in 720. ‘Five’ however means disunity because it is associated with fewness, as shown in 649. All things depend for their particular meanings on the subjects to which they refer.

AC (Elliott) n. 1687 sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1687. Verse 10 And the valley of Siddim was pits after pits of bitumen; and the king of Sodom and [the king] of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there; and the rest fled to the mountain.

‘The valley of Siddim was pits after pits of bitumen’ means the uncleanness of falsities and evil desires. ‘And the king of Sodom and {the king] of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there’ means that those evils and falsities were overcome. ‘And the rest fled to the mountain’ means that it did not happen to all of them, ‘a mountain’ meaning self-love and love of the world.

AC (Elliott) n. 1688 sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1688. That ‘the valley of Siddim was pits after pits – or was full of pits – of bitumen’ means the uncleanness of falsities and evil desires is clear from the meaning of ‘Siddim’ as uncleanness, dealt with above at verse 3, and also from the meaning of ‘pits’ as falsities, and of ‘bitumen’ as evil desires. Falsities are called ‘pits’ on account of the filthy water these contain, and evil desires are called ‘bitumen’ on account of the foul sulphurous stench of such water.

AC (Elliott) n. 1689 sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1689. That ‘the king of Sodom and [the king] of Gomorrah fled, and they fell there’ means that those evils and falsities were overcome is clear from the meaning of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ as the evils giving rise to evil desires and the falsities giving rise to false persuasions, dealt with above – ‘the king of Sodom and [the king] of Gomorrah’ at this point stand for all evils and falsities, including those meant by the remaining kings – and also from the meaning of ‘fleeing and falling’ as being overcome.

AC (Elliott) n. 1690 sRef Luke@4 @13 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1690. That ‘the rest fled to the mountain’ means that it did not happen to all of them is clear without explanation from the fact that they had now become ‘the rest’, who fled away. The subject in the internal sense is the temptations which the Lord underwent in childhood, about which nothing is recorded in the New Testament Word. No temptations are recorded there apart from the temptation in the wilderness, or shortly after He came out of the wilderness, and the last temptation later on in Gethsemane and after that. The fact that the Lord’s life from earliest childhood right through to the last hour of His life in the world consisted in constant temptation and constant victory is clear from many places in the Old Testament Word; and the fact that it did not end with His temptation in the wilderness is clear from the following in Luke,

After the devil had ended every temptation he departed from Him for a time. Luke 4:13,

as well as from His undergoing temptations right through to His death on the Cross, and so to the last hour of His life in the world. From these considerations it is evident that the whole of the Lord’s life in the world from earliest childhood consisted in constant temptation and constant victory. The last was when on the Cross He prayed for His enemies, and so for all people in the whole world.

[2] In the part of the Word where the Lord’s life is described – in the Gospels – no other temptation, apart from the last, is mentioned than His temptation in the wilderness. More than this was not disclosed to the disciples; and the things which were disclosed seem in the sense of the letter so slight as to amount to scarcely anything at all. For the things that are said, and the replies that are given, do not seem to constitute any temptation at all; yet in fact His temptation in the wilderness was more severe than the human mind can possibly comprehend and believe. Nobody can know what temptation is except someone who has experienced it. The temptation that is recorded in Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:12, 13; Luke 4:1-13, incorporates in a summary form all temptations, namely this, that out of His love towards the whole human race He fought against self-love and love of the world, with which the hells were filled completely.

sRef Luke@4 @4 S3′ sRef Matt@4 @3 S3′ sRef Matt@4 @2 S3′ sRef Luke@4 @3 S3′ sRef Matt@4 @4 S3′ sRef Luke@4 @2 S3′ [3] All temptation is an attack against the love present in a person, the degree of temptation depending on the degree of that love. If love is not attacked there is no temptation. Destroying another person’s love is destroying his very life, for his love is his life. The Lord’s life was love towards the whole human race; indeed it was so great and of such a nature as to be nothing other than pure love. Against this life of His, temptations were directed constantly, and this was happening, as has been stated, from earliest childhood through to His last hour in the world. The love that was the Lord’s very life is meant by His being hungry and by the devil’s saying,

If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. And Jesus answered, It is written that man will not live by bread alone but by every word of God. Luke 4:2-4; Matt. 4:2-4.

sRef Luke@4 @6 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @7 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @8 S4′ sRef Luke@4 @5 S4′ [4] That He fought against love of the world, or against all that constitutes love of the world, is meant by the devil’s taking Him on to a high mountain and showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and saying,

To you I will give all this power and their glory, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship before me, it will all be yours. But answering him Jesus said, Get behind Me, satan! for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve. Luke 4:5-8; Matt. 4:8-10.

sRef Matt@4 @6 S5′ sRef Matt@4 @7 S5′ sRef Matt@4 @11 S5′ sRef Matt@4 @5 S5′ [5] That He fought against self-love, and all that constitutes self-love, is meant by these words,

The devil took Him into the holy city, and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will give His angels charge regarding you, and on their hands they will bear you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. Matt. 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12.

Constant victory is meant by the statement that after temptation angels came and ministered to Him, Matt. 4:11; Mark 1:13.

[6] To sum up, the Lord was attacked by all the hells from earliest childhood right through to the last hour of His life in the world. The hells were constantly overpowered, subdued, and vanquished by Him; and this He did solely out of love towards the whole human race. And because this love was not human but Divine, and because the intensity of the love determines that of the temptation, it becomes clear how severe His conflicts were, and on the part of the hells how fierce. That all this was indeed the case I know for sure.

AC (Elliott) n. 1691 sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1691. That ‘a mountain’ means self-love and love of the world becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a mountain’, dealt with immediately below. All evil and falsity arise from self-love and love of the world; they have no other origin. Indeed self-love and love of the world are the reverse of celestial and spiritual love. And being the reverse they are loves which endeavour all the time to destroy the celestial and spiritual things of God’s kingdom. From self-love and love of the world all kinds of hatred arise, and from hatred all kinds of revenge and cruelty, and from both the former and the latter all kinds of deception, in short, all the hells.

sRef Isa@42 @15 S2′ sRef Isa@2 @15 S2′ sRef Deut@32 @22 S2′ sRef Isa@2 @14 S2′ sRef Isa@2 @11 S2′ sRef Isa@2 @12 S2′ sRef Isa@40 @4 S2′ [2] That ‘mountains’ in the Word means self-love and love of the world becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

The eyes of man’s (homo) loftiness will be humbled, and the height of men (homo) brought low; the day of Jehovah Zebaoth will be against everyone that is lofty and high, against all high mountains, and against all hills that are lifted up, and against every lofty tower. Isa. 2:11, 12, 14, 15.

‘High mountains’ plainly stands for self-love, and ‘hills that are lifted up’ for love of the world.

sRef Ezek@38 @20 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

Every valley will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill made low. Isa. 40:4.

This too plainly stands for self-love and love of the world. In the same prophet,

I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up every plant on them. Isa. 42:15.

Here similarly ‘mountains’ stands for self-love, and ‘hills’ for love of the world. In Ezekiel,

The mountains will be overturned, and the terraced ridges will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. Ezek. 38:20.

sRef Jer@51 @25 S4′ [4] In Jeremiah,

Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth, and I will stretch out My hand against you and roll you down from the rocks and make you into a mountain of burning. Jer. 51:25.

This refers to Babel and Chaldea, which, as shown already, mean self-love and love of the world. In the Song of Moses,

A fire has flared up in My anger, and will burn right down to the lowest hell, and will devour the land and its increase, and will set on fire the foundations of the mountains. Deut. 32:22.

‘The foundations of the mountains’ stands for the hells, as is explicitly stated. They are called ‘the foundations of the mountains’ because self-love and love of the world reign there and have their origin in them.

sRef Jonah@2 @5 S5′ sRef Jonah@2 @6 S5′ [5] In Jonah,

The waters surrounded me, even to my soul, the deep closed around me, seaweed was wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the bars of the land were upon me for ever. Yet You brought up my life* from the pit, O Jehovah my God. Jonah 2:5, 6.

The Lord’s temptations against the hells are described in this prophetic manner by Jonah when in the stomach of the great fish, as also in other parts of the Word, especially in David. A person undergoing temptation is within the hells. Being in the hells is not at all a question of place but of state.

[6] Since ‘mountains’ and ‘towers’ mean self-love and love of the world, it may therefore become clear what is meant by the reference to the Lord being led by the devil on to a high mountain and on to the pinnacle of the temple, namely that He was led into conflicts that constitute temptations – the most extreme conflicts of all – against self-love and love of the world, that is, against the hells. Mountains are also used, as is usual, in the contrary sense; in that sense they mean celestial and spiritual love, as shown already in 795, 796.
* lit. my lives

AC (Elliott) n. 1692 sRef Gen@14 @10 S0′ 1692. What temptations, or the conflicts that constitute temptations, accomplish, scarcely anyone is able to know. They are the means by which evils and falsities are broken up and dispersed. They are also the means by which an abhorrence of these is produced, and a conscience is not only given but also strengthened, and man is accordingly regenerated. This is the reason why those who are being regenerated are led into conflicts and undergo temptations and why those who do not experience them during their earthly life do so in the next life, provided they are such as can be regenerated. And it is for these reasons also that the Lord’s Church is called ‘militant’. The Lord alone however underwent from His own strength or power the most cruel conflicts that constitute temptations, for He was beset by all the hells and constantly overcame them.

[2] It is also the Lord alone who fights in the temptation-conflicts of those who do undergo these. Man by his own power can accomplish nothing in the slightest against evil or hellish spirits, for they are so closely linked to the hells that if one were vanquished another would rush to take his place, and so on for ever. They are like the sea pressing against every part of a dike. If the dike were to develop a split or crack the sea would never cease to pour through and flood the land until nothing was left standing. It would be like this with man if the Lord alone did not bear up against the conflicts experienced by man in temptations.

AC (Elliott) n. 1693 sRef Gen@14 @11 S0′ 1693. Verse 11 And they took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food and went their way.

‘They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah’ means that they were stripped of the power to do evil. ‘And all their food’ means that [they were stripped of] the power to think what was false. ‘And went their way’ means that in this condition they were left.

AC (Elliott) n. 1694 sRef Gen@14 @11 S0′ 1694. That ‘they took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah’ means that they were stripped of the power to do evil is clear from the meaning of ‘taking someone’s wealth’. ‘The wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah’ is used to mean in the internal sense nothing else than evil and falsity, evil being meant here by ‘the wealth’ and falsity by ‘the food’. In relation to the good, spiritual wealth and riches are nothing else than the goods and truths with which they are provided and enriched by the Lord; and therefore in relation to the evil, wealth and riches are nothing else than the evils and falsities which they have acquired to themselves. Such things are also meant in the Word by wealth. From these considerations it is clear that ‘taking the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah’ is depriving them of the power to do evil.

AC (Elliott) n. 1695 sRef Gen@14 @11 S0′ 1695. That ‘all their food’ means the power to think what was false is clear from the meaning of ‘food’. What the celestial, spiritual, and natural food are which people enjoy in the next life has been shown already in 56 58, 680, 681. These also correspond to food for the body, and therefore they are also represented in the Word by food and are actually called food. The food of evil and hellish spirits however is that which is the reverse of wisdom, intelligence, and true knowledge, namely all falsity; and what is remarkable, evil spirits are also sustained by this food. The reason they are sustained by it is that it is their life. Unless they are given the opportunity to revile the truth, and indeed to blaspheme it, they cannot live. Yet they are not given the freedom to think and speak anything false except that which subsists from their own evil; they are not free to think or speak that which is contrary to their own evil, for this is deception. Insofar as their own evil is the origin of the falsity they express, their own life is the source of it; and in this case it is also forgiven them, since their nature is such that they could not otherwise live at all.

[2] With regard to their being stripped of the power to do evil and to think falsity, the situation is that in the conflicts brought about by temptations evil spirits are permitted to draw forth all the evil and falsity residing in a person, and to fight from that person’s evil and falsity. But once they have been overcome they are no longer allowed to do so, for, being within that person, they instantly perceive that good and truth have been confirmed. Such perception exists more completely with spirits than with men. From the very sphere of a person confirmed in truth and good they recognize in an instant what the situation is, what response they will get, and much else. This is quite clear in the case of a spiritual and regenerate person, with whom evil spirits are present just as much as they are with one who is not regenerate; but with the regenerate person they have been subdued and are subservient. These are the things meant by their being stripped of the power to do evil and to think falsity.

AC (Elliott) n. 1696 sRef Gen@14 @11 S0′ 1696. That ‘they went their way’ means that they were left is clear without explanation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1697 sRef Gen@14 @12 S0′ 1697. Verse 12 And they took Lot and his acquisitions, Abram’s brother’s son, and went their way; and he was dwelling in Sodom.

‘They took Lot and his acquisitions, Abram’s brother’s son, and went their way’ means that apparent goods and truths, which are not in themselves goods and truths, took possession of the External Man and everything there. ‘And he was dwelling in Sodom’ means the state of that [External] Man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1698 sRef Gen@14 @12 S0′ 1698. That ‘they took Lot and his acquisitions, Abram’s brother’s son, and went their way’ means that apparent goods and truths, which are not in themselves goods and truths, took possession of the External Man and everything there is clear from the meaning of ‘Lot’ who, as stated and shown frequently already, means the Lord’s Sensory or External Man; indeed here he means the External Man as regards apparent goods and truths, which here are ‘Lot’s acquisitions’. That those goods and truths bore the appearance in early childhood of being goods and truths but were not in fact so has been explained already. But that those goods and truths were gradually purified, by means indeed of the conflicts that constitute temptations, becomes clear from what has been stated about temptations.

AC (Elliott) n. 1699 sRef Gen@14 @12 S0′ 1699. That ‘he was dwelling in Sodom’ means the state of that [External] Man is clear from meaning of ‘Sodom’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1700 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ 1700. Verse 13 And one who had escaped came and told it to Abram me Hebrew; and he was dwelling among me oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite, me brother of Eshkol, and me brother of Aner; and these men were Abram’s allies.

‘One who had escaped came and told it to Abram the Hebrew’ means that the Lord perceived from His Interior Man, ‘Abram the Hebrew’ being the Interior Man to whom the Internal or Divine Man was joined. ‘And he was dwelling among the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite’ means the state of perception coming from the Rational Man. ‘The brother of Eshkol and the brother of Aner, and these men were Abram’s allies’ means the state of the Rational Man in relation to the External Man as regards the nature of its goods and truths.

AC (Elliott) n. 1701 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ 1701. That ‘one who had escaped came and told it to Abram the Hebrew’ means that the Lord perceived from His Interior Man is clear from the meaning of ‘Abram the Hebrew’ as the Interior Man when joined to the Internal Man, dealt with just below. As in the internal sense these descriptions have reference to the Lord, and the historical details are representative, it is evident that ‘one who had escaped came and told it’ means nothing else than that the Lord perceived. The Interior Man perceives what is going on in the External Man, just as if someone were to tell of that activity. The Lord, who had a perception of all things that were taking place, knew very clearly the nature and the origin of the things that were occurring with Himself. For example, if something evil was taking possession of the affections of the External Man or if something false was taking possession of its cognitions, He inevitably knew the nature and the origin of it. He even knew which evil spirits were activating those things and how they did it, and many other things besides. For matters such as these, and countless others, do not lie hidden from angels, and scarcely so from men who have celestial perception. Still less were they hidden from the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1702 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ 1702. That ‘Abram the Hebrew’ is the Interior Man to whom the Internal or Divine Man was joined becomes clear from the meaning of Abram the Hebrew, that is, from Abram’s descriptive name used here ‘the Hebrew’. In what has gone before and in what follows where Abram is referred to he is not called ‘the Hebrew’. Only here is he called such, and therefore something distinct with regard to the Lord is represented and meant by ‘Abram the Hebrew’. What is represented and meant becomes clear from the internal sense, namely this, that the Interior Man was joined to the Internal or Divine Man, as becomes clear also from the train of thought in the internal sense. The name ‘the Hebrews’ occurs in the Word when something to do with service is meant, whatever it may be, as becomes clear from what follows. The Interior Man is such that it serves the Internal or Divine Man, and therefore the Interior Man is here called ‘Abram the Hebrew’.

[2] What the interior man is scarcely anyone knows, and therefore let this be described briefly. The interior man is situated between the internal man and the external man, it being by means of the interior man that the internal man communicates with the external. Without the interior man between them no communication from one to the other is ever possible. The celestial is distinct and separate from the natural, and still more from the bodily; and unless there is something in between through which communication is established the celestial cannot possibly operate into the natural, still less into the bodily. The interior man is called the rational man, and because that man is situated between the two, it communicates in one direction with the internal man where there is good itself and truth itself, and in the other with the external man where there is evil and falsity. By means of this communication with the internal man a person is able to think about celestial and spiritual things, or look upwards, which animals cannot do; and by means of his communication with the external man a person is able to think about worldly and bodily things, or look downwards almost in the way animals do which likewise possess ideas of earthly things. In short, the interior man, or the man between internal man and external, is the rational man itself, which is spiritual or celestial when looking upwards but merely animal when looking downwards.

[3] It is well known that a person can be aware of the fact that he is speaking in one way while thinking in another, and doing one thing while willing another, and that presence and deception are present; also that reason or rationality exists, and that this is something interior since it is able to dissent; also that with one who is to be regenerated something interior exists which battles with that which is exterior. This interior something which thinks differently and wills differently from that which is exterior, and which battles with it, is the interior man. Within this interior man conscience resides in the case of the spiritual man and perception in the case of the celestial man. This Interior Man, which was joined in the Lord’s case to the Divine Internal Man, is that which is here called ‘Abram the Hebrew’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1703 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ sRef 1Sam@4 @9 S1′ sRef Deut@15 @12 S1′ 1703. That the name ‘a Hebrew’ is used in the Word in reference to things which have to do with some form of service is clear from the following places: In Moses,

When your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. Deut. 15:12.

Here the expressions ‘a Hebrew men’ and ‘a Hebrew women’ are used because servitude is the subject. In Jeremiah,

At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew who has been sold to you and has served you for six years. Jer. 34:9, 14.

Here similarly the name ‘Hebrew’ occurs because servitude is the subject, though the sons of Jacob are not called Hebrews in other places in the Prophets. In Samuel,

The Philistines said, Take heart and acquit yourselves like men, lest you be slaves to the Hebrews as they have served you. 1 Sam. 4:9.

Here the meaning is similar.

sRef Ex@9 @13 S2′ sRef Gen@41 @12 S2′ sRef Gen@39 @14 S2′ sRef Ex@9 @1 S2′ [2] In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go so that they may serve Me. Exod. 9:1, 13; 10:3.

Here too because of their servitude they were called Hebrews. Potiphar’s wife referred to Joseph as a Hebrew,

She called to the men of her house, and said to them, See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to make sport of us. Gen. 39:14.

He is called ‘a Hebrew’ because he was a slave there. The chief of the cup-bearers said to Pharaoh,

There was with us a Hebrew lad, a slave of the chief of the guards, and he interpreted our dreams to us. Gen. 41:12.

In addition the Egyptians called the children of Israel Hebrews, because they were slaves, or in slavery, as is well known from Exod. 1:15, 16, 19, and elsewhere.

AC (Elliott) n. 1704 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ 1704. ‘And he was dwelling among the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite’ means the state of perception coming from the Rational Man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘an oak-grove’ and of ‘the oak-groves of Mamre the Amorite’, dealt with already in 1442, 1443, 1616.

AC (Elliott) n. 1705 sRef Gen@14 @13 S0′ 1705. ‘The brother of Eshkol and the brother of Aner, and these men were Abram’s allies’ means the state of the Rational Man in relation to the External Man as regards the nature of its goods and truths. This becomes clear from the meaning of these same men, discussed below at verse 24, where also they are mentioned by name. To put it briefly, Mamre, Eshkol, and Aner represent and mean the angels residing with the Lord when in earliest childhood He engaged in conflict, who were sufficiently equal to the goods and truths present with the Lord at that time. It is from goods and truths that angels receive their names. No angel in heaven has any personal name, but it is goods and truths from which names are bestowed on them, as with Michael and other angels mentioned in the Word. These are not angels possessing such personal names but angels so named because of the function they perform, whatever this may be. It is similar here with Mamre, Eshkol, and Aner, though these names are used representatively.

AC (Elliott) n. 1706 sRef Gen@14 @14 S0′ 1706. Verse 14 And Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, and he brought out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

‘Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive’ means that the Interior Man perceived the nature of the state of the External Man. ‘And he brought out his trained men, born in his house’ means those goods residing with the External Man which were now released from the yoke of slavery. ‘Three hundred and eighteen’ means the nature of those goods. ‘And pursued as far as Dan’ means the beginning* of purification.
* cp 1710

AC (Elliott) n. 1707 sRef Gen@14 @14 S0′ 1707. That ‘Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive’ means that the Interior Man perceived the nature of the state of the External Man is clear from the meaning of ‘Abram’ in the previous verse as the Interior Man to which the Internal or Divine Man was joined; from the meaning of ‘Lot’ as the External Man, as shown already; and also from the meaning of ‘hearing that his brother had been taken captive’ as perceiving the nature of its state, namely, as stated in verse 12, that – apparent goods and truths had possession of it.

[2] The situation is this: When the Interior Man meant by ‘Abram the Hebrew’ perceived that the goods and truths from which the battle was being fought were not in fact goods and truths except in appearance, and that these had possession of the entire External Man meant by ‘Lot his brother’s son’, the Interior Man, or rather the Divine Internal Man by means of the Interior Man, purified them. How this is done nobody can possibly know except one to whom it has been revealed. Indeed the influx of the internal man into the external man by way of the interior man situated between them is an arcanum, especially at the present time when few if any know what the interior man is, still less what the internal man is. As to what the internal man and the interior man are, see just above at verse 13.

[3] But the nature of this influx will be mentioned briefly here. The internal man residing in everyone is the Lord’s alone, for the Lord there stores away the goods and truths which He confers on man from earliest childhood. By way of these He flows from the internal man into the interior or rational man, and by way of this into the external man; and in this way man is enabled to think and be man. But the influx from the internal man into the interior man in between, and so into the external man, is twofold, passing either through celestial things or through spiritual, or what amounts to the same, either through goods or through truths. The influx through celestial things, or goods, occurs solely with regenerate persons, who have had either perception or conscience conferred on them, so that such influx is either by way of perception or else by way of conscience. Consequently influx by way of celestial things does not exist except among those with whom love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are present. By way of spiritual things, or truths, however, the Lord flows into every person; and without that influx no one would have been able to think, nor thus to speak. When a person is such that he perverts goods and truths and does not care at all about celestial and spiritual things, no influx of celestial things, or goods, takes place. But though the road for celestial things and goods is closed, still an influx of spiritual things or truths takes place, that road being kept open all the time. This makes clear the nature of the interior man or man situated between internal man and external, which is the rational man.

[4] Here ‘Abram’ means the internal man within the interior man situated between internal and external. When celestial things, or goods, flow in from the internal man into the interior man, the internal man takes to itself the interior man and makes it its own; yet the latter remains distinct and separate from the internal man. Similarly when the internal man flows into the external man through the interior man between the two, it takes this man also to itself, and makes it its own; yet that external man remains distinct and separate from the interior. So now, once the Internal Man perceived within the Interior Man that the state of the External Man was such – that is to say, that it ‘had been taken captive’ meaning that not genuine but apparent goods and truths had taken possession of it, from which goods and truths He fought against so many foes – that Internal Man flowed in, restored all things to order, and released the External Man from the things that infested it. The Internal Man accordingly purified the External Man, that is to say, so that there were present not apparent but genuine goods and truths, which were thus joined to the Internal or Divine Man – that conjunction being effected, as has been stated, through the Interior Man.

[5] In one respect the Lord was not like any other human being, for His Interior Man as regards celestial things, or goods, was Divine, and from birth was joined to the Internal Man. The Internal Man together with this Interior Man was His Father, Jehovah Himself. But in another respect He was like others, in that His Interior Man as regards spiritual things, or truths, was joined to the External Man, and so was Human; but this too was by His own power made Divine, that is, Jehovah, through conflicts constituting temptations and through repeated victories. It is the External Man that is called ‘Lot’; but in the previous state the expression ‘brother’s son’ is used, in the present state ‘Abram’s brother’. It was called ‘his brother’s son’ when apparent truths and goods had possession of it, but ‘his brother’ when genuine goods and genuine truths did so.

AC (Elliott) n. 1708 sRef Gen@14 @14 S0′ 1708. ‘And he brought out his trained men, born in his house’ means these goods residing with the External Man which were now released from the yoke of slavery. This is clear from the meaning of ‘trained men’ and also of ‘bore in Abram’s house’. In the internal sense ‘Abram’s trained men’ – that is, trained but inexperienced – are those goods residing with the External Man that are able to be joined to the Interior Man, while those ‘born in the house’ in the internal sense are those same goods, and also truths, as belonging to that Interior Man. But these matters contain more arcana than can be made known. Those arcana have to do primarily with the way in which, following the conflicts brought about by temptations, apparent goods become genuine goods, and with the fact that when this happens they can be joined to the Interior Man and through the Interior Man to the Internal Man, and in like manner be made Divine. For the Lord, by degrees, joined the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, doing so, as has been stated, through conflicts and victories in temptations. These goods that were made genuine are what are called ‘Abram’s trained men’ or inexperienced ones, for those goods had undergone training but were ‘inexperienced’. And because they were acquired by His own power, they are called those ‘born in the house’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1709 sRef Gen@14 @14 S0′ 1709. ‘Three hundred and eighteen men’ means the nature of those goods, that is to say, they are the holy things employed in conflict. The number eighteen entails this, as also does the number three hundred, for these numbers are compounded from three and six. Three means that which is holy, as shown in 720, 901, and six means conflict, as shown in 737, 900. Abram’s bringing out of such a number of men is true historically; but still it was also representative, as is every historical detail of the Word recorded in the five Books of Moses, and in the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Daniel, and Jonah, where in like manner numbers embody arcana within them. For nothing has been written in the Word that was not of such a representative nature. If it were not representative it would not be the Word and it would never have been recorded that Abram brought out three hundred and eighteen, and also that they were trained and were born in his house, besides many other details mentioned in this chapter.

AC (Elliott) n. 1710 sRef Gen@14 @14 S0′ sRef 1Ki@4 @25 S0′ sRef 2Sam@24 @15 S0′ sRef 2Sam@17 @11 S0′ sRef 2Sam@24 @2 S0′ sRef 2Sam@3 @10 S0′ 1710. ‘And pursued as far as Dan’ means a state of purification. This is clear from the train of thought in the internal sense. ‘Pursuing enemies’ here means casting out the evils and falsities which were present with goods and truths and which caused these to be no more than goods and truths in outward appearance, and thus it means liberating them and purifying them. ‘As far as Dan’ means to Canaan’s furthest boundary, and so to the outer limits to which they had fled. That Dan means the furthest boundaries or outer limits of Canaan is clear from various parts of the Word, as in Samuel,

To translate the kingdom from the house of Saul and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah. from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Sam. 3:10.

In the same book,

The whole of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba will be assembled together. 2 Sam. 17:10.

In the same book,

David said to Joab, Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan even to Beersheba. 2 Sam. 24:2, 15.

In the Book of Kings,

Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba. 1 Kings 4:25.

From these quotations it is evident that Dan was the furthest boundary of Canaan, in which direction the enemies were pursued that were infesting the goods and truths of the External Man. But because Dan was a boundary of Canaan, and so inside Canaan, they were driven still further away so that they should not remain there – namely to ‘Hobah on the left of Damascus’, as is clear from the verse that comes next – and in this way purification was accomplished. As stated already, ‘the land of Canaan’ means in a holy sense the Lord’s kingdom, and thus the celestial element of love, or the good of love, chiefly the good residing in the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1711 sRef Gen@14 @15 S0′ 1711. Verse 15 And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus.

‘He divided himself against them by night’ means the shade which the apparent goods and truths were in. ‘He and his servants’ means the Rational Man and those things in the External Man that were obedient. ‘And he smote them’ means an act of reclamation. ‘And he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus’ means to that particular extent.

AC (Elliott) n. 1712 sRef Gen@14 @15 S0′ 1712. That ‘he divided himself against them by night’ means the shade which the apparent goods and truths were in is clear from the meaning of ‘night’ as a state of shade. It is called a state of shade when a person does not know whether good and truth are apparent or genuine. While a person is limited to apparent good and truth he imagines that these are genuine good and truth. It is the evil and falsity present in apparent good and truth that produce the shade and cause them to be seen as genuine. What else can people who are in ignorance know than that the good they do is their own, and that the truth they think is their own? The same applies to people who ascribe the good deeds they do to themselves and place merit in them, unaware of the fact that in this case those deeds are not good though they appear to be so, and that the proprium and the self-merit they place in them are evils and falsities that cause obscurity and darkness. And the same applies in many other instances.

[2] What evil and falsity are like, and how much evil and falsity lie concealed in such deeds, cannot possibly be seen so clearly in the life of the body as in the next life, where these are presented to view altogether as in broad daylight. But it is different if a person acts out of ignorance that has not been confirmed, for in that case those evils and falsities are easily dispersed. But if people confirm themselves in the notion that they are able to do good and to withstand evil by their own powers, and that thus they merit salvation, such a notion remains attached, and causes the good to be evil, and the truth to be falsity. Yet for all this, order requires that a person should do good as though from himself, and ought not therefore to stay his hand and think to himself, ‘If I am unable to do anything good at all from myself I must wait for immediate influx’ and so remain inactive. This is also contrary to order. Man ought to do good as though from himself; but when he stops to reflect on the good he is doing or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord present with him has accomplished it.

[3] If by thinking as described he gives up acting as of himself he is not a subject into whom the Lord can operate. The Lord cannot flow into anyone who deprives himself of everything into which power has to be introduced. He is like someone who is not willing to learn anything except through a revelation made to him; or like someone who is not willing to teach anything unless the words are put into his mouth; or like someone who is unwilling to attempt anything unless he is directed as one without a will. But if this were done he would be more indignant still at being like an inanimate object. In fact however that which is animated by the Lord in a person is the very thing which makes it seem as though it were from himself. That man does not live from himself is an eternal truth; yet if he did not appear to do so he could not possibly live at all.

AC (Elliott) n. 1713 sRef Gen@14 @15 S0′ 1713. ‘He and his servants’ means the Rational Man and those things in the External Man that were obedient. This is clear from the meaning of the pronoun ‘he’, that is, of Abram, as the Interior Man, dealt with above, and from the meaning of ‘servants’ as things that are obedient. All things in the external man, before this has been set free and reclaimed, are called ‘servants’ or ‘slaves’, for they are wholly obedient to the interior man. For example, present with the exterior man there are affections and there is factual knowledge. The former originate in the goods of the interior man, the latter in the truths of the same. When these are made to act so that they conform with the interior man they are said to ‘serve and obey’. Here therefore ‘servants’ means nothing else than the things in the External Man that were obedient.

AC (Elliott) n. 1714 sRef Gen@14 @15 S0′ 1714. That ‘he smote them’ means an act of reclamation becomes clear from the train of thought, and without explanation.

AC (Elliott) n. 1715 sRef Gen@14 @15 S0′ sRef Amos@5 @27 S0′ sRef Amos@5 @26 S0′ 1715. ‘And he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus’ means to that particular extent. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus’. Where Hobah was nobody knows, for it is not mentioned again in the Word. Damascus however was the capital city of Syria, as is clear in 2 Sam 8:5, 6; Isa. 7:8, which has almost the same meaning as Syria, dealt with already at Chapter 10:22. The furthest boundary of the land of Canaan, but beyond Dan, is described as being Damascus, as in Amos,

You have taken up Sikkuth your king, and Kiyun your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves And I will cause you to go away beyond Damascus. Amos 5:26, 27.

The northern boundary of the holy land or the Lord’s kingdom is also called the boundary of Damascus in Ezek. 47:16 18; 48:1. When it is said in the present verse that ‘they were smitten and driven away as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus’, the extent to which apparent goods and truths were purified is meant. But unless the nature of those apparent goods and truths is known and by what means they were purified to make them genuine, no proper explanation of the meaning here of ‘Hobah on the left of Damascus’ is possible, apart from the general observation that they were purified.

AC (Elliott) n. 1716 sRef Gen@14 @16 S0′ 1716. Verse 16 And he brought back all the acquisitions, and also Lot his brother and his acquisitions he brought back, and the women and the people as well.

‘He brought back all the acquisitions’ means that the Interior Man brought all things in the External Man back into a state of agreement. ‘And also Lot his brother and his acquisitions he brought back’ means the External Man and all that belonged to it. ‘The women and the people’ means both goods and truths.

AC (Elliott) n. 1717 sRef Gen@14 @16 S0′ 1717. That ‘he brought back all the acquisitions’ means that the Interior Man brought all things in the External Man back into a state of agreement becomes clear from the meaning of ‘bringing back all the acquisitions’, the acquisitions here being the things which Chedorlaomer and the kings with him had taken from their enemies, as described in what has gone before. ‘Chedorlaomer and the kings with him’ meant the goods and truths in the Exterior Man. They did not take from their enemies anything apart from depriving them of the power to do evil and to think falsity, which was meant by ‘the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah’ and by all the food they took, dealt with above at verse 11.

[2] This is not a matter that can be explained briefly, yet to gain some notion concerning it, let the following be said. A person who is engaged in the conflicts that constitute temptations, and who overcomes, more and more acquires to himself power over evil spirits, that is, over the devil’s crew, till at length they do not dare to tempt him at all. Every time a victory is won, the Lord brings back into a state of order the goods and truths from which the battle was fought, and so they are purified. And to the degree that these are purified, the celestial things of love are implanted in the exterior man, and a correspondence is achieved. This is what is meant by ‘bringing back all the acquisitions’.

[3] Anyone who thinks that the external man can be brought back into correspondence without the conflicts brought about by temptations is mistaken; for temptations are the means by which evils and falsities are dispelled, also by which goods and truths are introduced, and by which the things belonging to the external man are brought into obedience so that it may serve the interior or rational man, and through the latter may serve the internal man, that is, the Lord who operates by way of the internal man. That these things are effected by temptations nobody can know except the person who has been regenerated by means of temptations. But how this is accomplished can hardly be described even as to its most general features, for it is accomplished without the person’s knowing the origin and manner of its accomplishment, since it is a Divine operation by the Lord.

AC (Elliott) n. 1718 sRef Gen@14 @16 S0′ 1718. ‘And also Lot his brother and his acquisitions he brought back’ means the External Man and all that belonged to it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Lot’ as the external man, dealt with frequently. What the external man is, scarcely anyone knows at the present day, for people imagine that solely the things belonging to the body constitute the external man, such as its sensory powers of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight, and also its appetites and pleasures. But these constitute the outermost man, which is merely bodily. The external man proper consists of the factual knowledge belonging to the memory and of the affections belonging to the love with which the person has been imbued, as well as consisting of the sensory powers which belong properly to the spirit, together with the pleasures which also reside with the spirit. The fact that these things properly constitute the external or exterior man becomes clear from human beings in the next life, that is, from spirits. These likewise have an external man, an interior man, and consequently an internal man. The body is merely a perishable covering or shell so to speak, which exists so that the person may truly live and so that all that constitutes his being may become more excellent.

AC (Elliott) n. 1719 sRef Gen@14 @16 S0′ 1719. ‘The women and the people’ means both goods and truths. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘wives’ and ‘daughters’ as goods, dealt with already in 489-491, 568, 915 – ‘women’ being used here instead of wives and daughters; and from the meaning of ‘people’ as truth, also dealt with already, in 1259, 1260.

AC (Elliott) n. 1720 sRef Gen@14 @17 S0′ 1720. Verse 17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he had returned from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley.

‘The king of Sodom went out to meet him’ means that the evil and falsity submitted to Him. ‘After he had returned from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him’ means the release and reclamation of the apparent goods and truths. ‘At the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley’ means the state of the External Man as regards goods and truths at that time.

AC (Elliott) n. 1721 sRef Gen@14 @17 S0′ 1721. That ‘the king of Sodom went out to meet him’ means that the evil and falsity submitted to Him is clear from the meaning of ‘the king of Sodom’ as the evil and falsity against which the conflict took place, and from the meaning of ‘going out to meet’ as submitting. Mention is made here of the king of Sodom because of this point occurring in the sequence of thought, that the evil and falsity submitted themselves to Him; but that king is not specifically the subject until verse 21 below.

AC (Elliott) n. 1722 sRef Gen@14 @17 S0′ 1722. ‘After he had returned from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him’ means the release and reclamation of the apparent goods and truths. ‘I his is clear from what has gone before and from what has been stated above regarding Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.

AC (Elliott) n. 1723 sRef Gen@14 @17 S0′ 1723. ‘At the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley’ means the state of the External Man as regards goods and truths at that time. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘the valley of Shaveh’ and also of the ‘king’s valley’. ‘The valley of Shaveh’ means the goods of the External Man, ‘the king’s valley’ the truths of the same Man. The External Man is called ‘a valley’ on account of its being below. That which is more external is also lower, just as that which is more internal is also higher. That ‘a king’ means truth has been stated already in 1672.

AC (Elliott) n. 1724 sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ 1724. Verse 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was a priest to God Most High.

‘Melchizedek’ means the celestial things of the Lord’s Interior Man. ‘King of Salem’ means a state of peace as regards interior or rational things. ‘He brought out bread’ means celestial things and the refreshment received from them. ‘And wine’ means spiritual things and the refreshment received from them. ‘And he was a priest’ means the holiness of love. ‘To God Most High’ means the Internal Man, which is Jehovah.

AC (Elliott) n. 1725 sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ 1725. That ‘Melchizedek’ means the celestial things of the Lord’s Interior Man becomes clear from the meaning of ‘Melchizedek’, to be dealt with shortly, and also from the things that come before and after. What the internal man is, what the interior man is, and what the external man is, has been adequately shown above, as also has the fact that the internal man flows into the external man by way of the interior man, as well as that the internal man flows into the interior man either by way of celestial things or by way of spiritual things – by way of celestial things with every regenerate person, that is, with people who lead lives of love to the Lord and of love towards the neighbour, but by way of spiritual things with every individual, whatever his character. It is from this influx that he has his light from heaven, that is, is enabled to think and speak, and to be a human being. See what has appeared already in 1707.

[2] The celestial things of the interior man are all those that belong to celestial love, as often stated already. These celestial things with the Lord’s Interior Man, or the Lord’s Interior Man as to these celestial things, is called ‘Melchizedek’. The Internal Man within the Lord was Jehovah Himself; and when the Interior Man, following the conflicts brought about by temptations, had been purified, that became Divine and Jehovah as well, as likewise did the External Man. But now, while the Interior Man was still passing through a state involving the conflicts brought about by temptation and had not yet been purified to any great extent by means of such conflicts, it is called as to celestial things ‘Melchizedek’, that is, ‘king of holiness and righteousness’.

sRef Ps@110 @5 S3′ sRef Ps@110 @4 S3′ sRef Ps@110 @3 S3′ sRef Ps@110 @1 S3′ sRef Ps@110 @2 S3′ [3] That this is indeed so is also evident in David where similarly the Lord’s conflicts during temptations are the subject, and where at length His Interior Man as regards celestial things is called Melchizedek,

Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies as Your foot-stool; Jehovah will send the rod of strength from Zion; have dominion in the midst of Your enemies. Your people will be prompt to offer themselves on the day of Your power, in the beauty of holiness. From the womb of the morning You have the dew of Your birth. Jehovah has sworn and will not repent, You are a Priest for ever, after the manner of* Melchizedek. The Lord on Your right hand has smitten kings on the day of His anger. Ps. 110:1-5.

These verses of Psalm 110 refer, as does this chapter in Genesis, to the Lord’s temptation-conflicts with the hells, as becomes clear from every word. The fact that the statements in this Psalm refer to the Lord, He Himself teaches in Matt. 22:43-45; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-44. ‘Making enemies a foot-stool’, ‘having dominion in the midst of enemies’, ‘the day of power’, and ‘smiting kings on the day of His anger’ mean the conflicts that constitute temptations, and victories.
* The Latin means according to my word but the Hebrew means after the manner (or the word) of, which Sw. has in other places where he quotes this verse.

AC (Elliott) n. 1726 sRef Ps@76 @2 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ sRef Ps@76 @1 S0′ 1726. That ‘king of Salem’ means a state of peace as regards interior or rational things is clear from the meaning of ‘Salem’. Salem in the original language means peace, and also perfection, and thus [in the internal sense] means a state of peace and a state of perfection. A state of peace is the state of the Lord’s kingdom. In that state celestial and spiritual things, which are the Lord’s, exist so to speak in their early morning and their spring-time, for that peace is like the dawn that breaks in the early morning, and the new life that comes in spring-time. The dawn and the spring cause everything that reaches the senses at those times to be full of joy and gladness; every object draws forth a particular affection from one’s general affection for the dawn and the spring. So it is with the state of peace in the Lord’s kingdom. In a state of peace everything celestial or spiritual exists so to speak in its early morn or spring-time blossom and cheer, that is, in its very happiness. Such is the manner in which the state of peace affects each particular thing, for the Lord is Peace itself. The same is also meant by ‘Salem’ in David,

In Judah is God known; in Israel His name is great, and in Salem is His tabernacle, and His dwelling- place in Zion. Ps. 76:1, 2.

While a person is undergoing the conflicts brought about by temptations the Lord grants him by turns a state of peace, and so refreshes him. A state of peace is meant here by ‘Salem’ and also by ‘the bread and wine’ mentioned next, which means celestial and spiritual things and thus a state of celestial and spiritual things in peace, which state is refreshment itself.

AC (Elliott) n. 1727 sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ 1727. ‘He brought out bread’ means celestial things and the refreshment received from them, while ‘end wine’ means spiritual things and the refreshment received from them. This is clear from the meaning of ‘bread’ as that which is celestial, dealt with in 276, 680, and from the meaning of ‘wine’, and also of a vine and a vineyard, as that which is spiritual, dealt with in 1069, 1071. And because ‘breed’ means celestial things, and ‘wine’ spiritual, they were also made symbols in the Holy Supper. Here ‘Melchizedek brought out bread and wine’ has a similar meaning, for in the Ancient Church ‘breed’ was the representative of all celestial things, and ‘wine’ the representative of all spiritual things. Thus here they are representatives of the Lord Himself, the source of everything celestial and everything spiritual.

AC (Elliott) n. 1728 sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ 1728. ‘And he was a priest’ means the holiness of love. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a priest’ in the Word. Two special ways in which the Lord is characterized are as King and as Priest. A king or the office of king means holy truth, and a priest or the office of priest means holy good. The former is the Divine Spiritual, the latter the Divine Celestial. As King the Lord governs every single thing in the universe from Divine Truth; but as Priest He does so from Divine Good. Divine Truth is the order itself of His kingdom existing everywhere, all the laws of which are truths, or eternal verities. Divine Good is the very essential of order, every aspect of which is an expression of mercy. Both of these – Divine Good and Divine Truth – are attributed to the Lord. If solely Divine Truth were His, no mortal man could be saved, for truths condemn everyone to hell. But Divine Good, which is the essence of mercy, raises people up from hell towards heaven. Divine Truth and Divine Good are what kings and priests in the Jewish Church represented; and Melchizedek as king of Salem and priest to God Most High represented them too.

AC (Elliott) n. 1729 sRef Gen@14 @18 S0′ sRef John@14 @6 S0′ sRef John@14 @9 S0′ sRef John@14 @11 S0′ sRef John@14 @8 S0′ sRef John@14 @10 S0′ 1729. ‘To God Most High’ means the Internal Man, which is Jehovah. This is clear from what has been stated several times above about the Lord’s Internal Man being Jehovah Himself, so that the Lord is identical with Jehovah the Father, as He Himself says in John,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you for so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. So why do you say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me. John 14:6, 8-11.

sRef Luke@24 @38 S2′ sRef Luke@24 @39 S2′ sRef Luke@24 @40 S2′ [2] It is the Lord’s Human Essence that is called the Son of Man. This too, after the conflicts brought about by temptations, was united to the Divine Essence, so that the Human Essence as well became Jehovah. In heaven therefore they know no other Father Jehovah but the Lord – see what has appeared already in 15. With the Lord everything is Jehovah, not only His Internal Man and Interior Man, but also His External Man, including the body itself. He alone therefore has risen into heaven with the body as well, as is quite clear in the Gospels where His resurrection is described, and also from the Lord’s own words,

Why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, for it is I Myself. Handle Me, and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see Me have. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. Luke 24:38-40.

AC (Elliott) n. 1730 sRef Gen@14 @19 S0′ sRef Gen@14 @19 S0′ 1730. Verse 19 And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth.

‘He blessed him’ means the enjoyment of celestial and spiritual things. ‘And said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High’ means that the Lord’s Interior Man had the enjoyment of goods coming from His Internal Man. ‘Possessor of heaven and earth’ means the conjunction of the Internal Man, or Jehovah, with the interior and the Exterior Man.

AC (Elliott) n. 1731 sRef Gen@14 @19 S0′ 1731. That ‘he blessed him’ means the enjoyment of celestial and spiritual things becomes clear from the meaning of ‘blessing’ as having the enjoyment of all goods, dealt with in 981, 1096. People who enjoy celestial and spiritual goods have the enjoyment of all goods, for it is from the celestial and spiritual that all goods of every description derive. The things contained in this verse announce and proclaim the conjunction of the Lord’s Human Essence with His Divine Essence. The blessing itself implies it.

AC (Elliott) n. 1732 sRef Gen@14 @19 S0′ 1732. ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High’ means that the Lord’s Interior Man had the enjoyment of goods coming from His Internal Man. Similarly, this is clear from the meaning of ‘blessing’ as having the enjoyment of goods, as has been stated; also from the meaning of ‘Abram’ here as the Interior or Rational Man, dealt with above at verse 13; and then from the meaning of ‘God Most High’ as the Lord’s Internal Man, also dealt with already. ‘Abram’, as has been stated, means the Interior or Rational Man, which was to be united to the Internal Man, or Jehovah, which union was accomplished through the conflicts that constituted temptations, and through victories. Indeed the situation with the Interior Man is that the Interior Man, as has been stated, is situated between the Internal Man and External Man, and enables the Internal Man to flow into the External. Without that Interior Man no communication takes place, and when it does take place it is a communication of celestial and spiritual things. When the communication was one of celestial things, the Interior Man was called ‘Melchizedek’, but when the communication was one of spiritual things it is called ‘Abram the Hebrew’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1733 sRef Gen@14 @19 S0′ 1733. ‘Possessor of heaven and earth’ means the conjunction of the Internal Man, or Jehovah, with the Interior and the Exterior Man. This is clear from the meaning of ‘heaven and earth’. That which is interior in man is called ‘heaven’, and that which is exterior ‘earth’. The reason heaven means that which is interior in man is that man as regards interior things is an image of heaven, and so a miniature heaven. The Lord’s Interior Man primarily is heaven, for the Lord is the All in all of heaven, and thus heaven itself. The exterior man’s being called ‘the earth’ follows as a consequence of this. Here also is the reason why ‘the new heaven and the new earth’ described in the Prophets and in the Book of Revelation is used to mean nothing other than the Lord’s kingdom and every person who is the Lord’s kingdom, that is, who has the Lord’s kingdom within him. As regards heaven and earth having these meanings, see 82, 911, for heaven, and 82, 620, 636, 913, for earth.

[2] That ‘God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth’ here means the conjunction of the Internal Man with the Interior and Exterior Man in the Lord becomes clear from the consideration that the Lord as regards the Internal Man was Jehovah Himself; and because the Internal Man or Jehovah guided and instructed the External Man – as the Father did the Son – the External Man considered in relation to Jehovah is therefore called the Son of God, but in relation to the mother the Son of Man. The Lord’s Internal Man, which is Jehovah Himself, is that which is here called ‘God Most High’, and until complete conjunction or union had taken place it is called ‘Possessor of heaven and earth’, that is, Possessor of all that resided in the Interior and Exterior Man, which, as has been stated, is here meant by ‘heaven and earth’.

AC (Elliott) n. 1734 sRef Gen@14 @20 S0′ 1734. Verse 20 And blessed be God Most High who has delivered your enemies into your hand; and he gave him a tenth of everything. ‘Blessed be God Most High’ means the Lord’s Internal Man. ‘Who has delivered your enemies into your hand’ means victory. ‘And he gave him a tenth of everything’ means remnants gained from victory.

AC (Elliott) n. 1735 sRef Gen@14 @20 S0′ 1735. That ‘blessed be God Most High’ means the Lord’s Internal Man is clear from what has been stated just above concerning the Internal Man. Jehovah was called ‘God Most High’ in the Ancient Church for the reason that ‘height’ represented and therefore meant what is internal, so that ‘Most High’ meant that which is inmost. This is why the worship of the Ancient Church was celebrated on high places, mountains, and hills. Also, that which is inmost in relation to the exterior and outermost is exactly the same as that which is the most high in relation to lower and lowest. The Most High, or Inmost, is the Celestial element of Love, or Love itself. Jehovah, or the Lord’s Internal, was the Celestial element itself of Love, that is, it was Love itself, to which no other attributes are appropriate than those of pure Love and so of pure Mercy towards the whole human race, that Mercy being such that it wills to save all men, to make them eternally happy, and to impart to them all that is its Own – thus out of pure Mercy and by the mighty power of love to draw towards heaven, that is, towards Itself, all who are willing to follow. That Love itself is Jehovah. To Love alone, and to nothing else, is [the substantive verb] Am or Is truly applicable.

[2] From that Love the Being (Esse) of all life is derived, that is, Life itself is derived; for that Being is present within Love and is Love itself. And because Jehovah alone, since He alone is Love, is the Being (Esse) of life, or Life itself, every single thing has its being (esse) and its life from Him. Nor can anyone except Jehovah alone, that is, the Lord alone, be and live from himself. And because no one except the Lord alone can do so, men’s seeming to themselves to live from themselves is an illusion of the senses. Angels perceive clearly that they do not live from themselves but from the Lord, since they live in the Being (Esse) of the Lord’s life because they abide in His Love. Yet to them more than to all others there is granted, together with indescribable happiness, the appearance of living as if from themselves. This therefore is what is meant by living in the Lord, something that is not possible unless one lives in His Love, that is, in charity towards the neighbour.

AC (Elliott) n. 1736 sRef Gen@14 @20 S0′ sRef Isa@48 @17 S1′ sRef Ex@24 @10 S1′ sRef Isa@54 @5 S1′ sRef Isa@41 @14 S1′ 1736. The fact that the Lord is Jehovah, who is here called ‘God Most High’, is quite clear from the Word: in Isaiah,

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth He is called. Isa. 54:5.

Here it is explicitly stated that ‘the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel’, who is the Lord alone, is ‘Jehovah Zebaoth’ and ‘the God of the whole earth’. In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah your God. Isa. 48:17.

In the same prophet,

I am helping you, said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Isa. 41:14.

The expressions ‘the Holy One of Israel’ and ‘the God of Israel’ occur many times. That the Lord is the Holy One of Israel and the God of Israel is quite clear from where it is said that they saw the God of Israel, under whose feet there was so to speak a paved work of sapphire stone, like the substance of the sky for purity, Exod. 24:10.

sRef Isa@40 @10 S2′ sRef Isa@25 @8 S2′ sRef Isa@40 @11 S2′ sRef Isa@25 @9 S2′ [2] None other was acknowledged and called Jehovah by the Jewish Church because that Church worshipped the one God Jehovah, and more importantly, because all the religious observances of that Church represented Him — though the majority did not know this – and because all things in the internal sense of the Word had Him as their meaning. In Isaiah,

He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord Jehovih will wipe away tears from all faces. And it will be said on that day, Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him and He will save us. This is Jehovah, whom we have waited for; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation. Isa. 25:8, 9.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord.

sRef Isa@45 @21 S3′ sRef Isa@63 @16 S3′ sRef Isa@45 @18 S3′ sRef Isa@63 @15 S3′ sRef Isa@45 @22 S3′ [3] In the same prophet,

Behold, the Lord Jehovih will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him. He will pasture His flock like a shepherd, He will gather into His arm, He will carry the tiny lambs in His bosom,* and will lead those that give suck. Isa. 40:10, 11.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who is ‘the Lord Jehovih’. ‘He will come with might, and His arm will exercise dominion for Him’ stands for the fact that He would by His own power overcome the hells. ‘Pasturing the flock’, ‘gathering into His arm’, ‘carrying the tiny lambs in His bosom’, and ‘leading those that give suck’ have reference to His love, or mercy.

sRef Isa@9 @6 S4′ sRef Isa@9 @7 S4′ [4] In the same prophet,

Thus said Jehovah, God Himself who created the heavens, who formed the earth and made it, who Himself established it and created it not an emptiness, and formed it to dwell in: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. Am not I Jehovah and there is no God else besides Me? A just God, and a Saviour, there is none besides Me. Look to Me and be saved, all ends of the earth. For I am God and there is no other. Isa. 45:18, 21, 22.

Here it is explicitly stated that the Lord alone is Jehovah and God. ‘To create the heavens and form the earth’ is to regenerate, and so ‘the Creator of heaven and earth’ is the Regenerator, see 16, 88, 472, and elsewhere. This is why the Lord is in various places called Creator, One who forms, and Maker.

sRef Ex@23 @21 S5′ [5] In the same prophet,

You are our Father, for Abraham does not know us and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our rather, our Redeemer; from of old is Your name. Isa. 63:15, 16.

This refers explicitly to the Lord who alone is the Redeemer. In Moses,

Take notice of His face,** and hearken to His voice, lest you provoke Him, for He will not endure your transgression, for My name is in the midst of Him. Exod. 23:21.

‘Name’ is the essential nature, see 144, 145, while ‘in the midst’ is the inmost, 1074.

sRef Zech@14 @9 S6′ sRef Jer@23 @6 S6′ sRef Jer@23 @5 S6′ [6] In Isaiah,

To us a Boy is born, to us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. His name will be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. Isa. 9:6, 7.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Jeremiah,

Behold, the days are coming and I will raise up for David a righteous branch and He will reign as King, and act with understanding, and execute judgement and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell with confidence. And this is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our Righteousness. Jer. 23:5, 6.

This plainly refers to the Lord. In Zechariah,

Jehovah will be King over all the earth; in that day there will be one Jehovah, and His name one. Zech. 14:9.

This is plainly a reference to the Lord. ‘Name’ stands for Essential Nature.
* In other places where he quotes these verses Sw. punctuates them, in keeping with the Hebrew, as follows – He will gather the (tiny) lambs, He will carry them in His bosom.
** lit. faces

AC (Elliott) n. 1737 sRef Gen@14 @20 S0′ 1737. ‘Who has delivered your enemies into your hand’ means victory. This becomes clear without explanation. The joining of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence was brought about and effected by the Lord by means of constant conflicts that constitute temptations, and by victories; and He did all this from His own power. Anyone who conceives the manner of conjunction and union to be different from that is much mistaken. This was the way in which He became Righteousness. The conjunction or union was effected with the celestial element of love, that is, with Love itself, which, as has been stated, is Jehovah. The joining of men to the Lord is also effected by means of temptations and by the implanting of faith in love. Unless faith is implanted in love, that is, unless a person by means of things that belong to faith receives the life of faith, which is charity, conjunction is not possible. This alone is what ‘to follow Him’ implies, namely to be joined to the Lord, even as the Lord as regards His Human Essence was joined to Jehovah. For the same reason all such people are called sons of God – from the Lord who is the only Son of God – and become images of Him.

AC (Elliott) n. 1738 sRef Gen@14 @20 S0′ 1738. ‘And he gave him a tenth of everything’ means remnants gained from victory. This is clear from the meaning of ‘tenths’ as remnants, dealt with already in 576. For what remnants are however, see 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050, where it is shown that they are all the states of love and charity, and all the states of innocence and peace, with which a person is endowed. He is endowed with these states from earliest childhood, though that endowment gradually diminishes as he advances into adult life. But while a person is being regenerated he receives, in addition to those he has already, new remnants, and thus new life; for it is from, or by means of, remnants that a person is enabled to be human. In fact, if devoid of the state of love and charity, and if devoid of the state of innocence – states that instill themselves into all the other states of his life-a person is no longer human, but worse than any wild animal. It is remnants acquired during the conflicts brought about by temptations that are meant in the present verse. These remnants are what the tenths given to Melchizedek by Abram mean. They are also all the celestial things of love which the Lord gathered to Himself through the constant conflicts and victories by means of which He was constantly being united to the Divine Essence until the point was reached when His Human Essence as well had become Love, or the Being (Esse) of life, that is, Jehovah.

AC (Elliott) n. 1739 sRef Gen@14 @21 S0′ 1739. Verse 21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people and take the acquisitions for yourself.*

‘The king of Sodom said’ means the evil and falsity that had been overcome. ‘To Abram’ means the Lord’s Rational. ‘Give me the people and take the acquisitions for yourself’* means that He was to give them life and they would not care about anything else.
* lit. Give me the soul[s], and keep the acquisition[s] for yourself

AC (Elliott) n. 1740 sRef Gen@14 @21 S0′ 1740. That ‘the king of Sodom’ means the evil and falsity that had been overcome is clear from the meaning of ‘Sodom’ as evil and falsity, as shown above in this chapter. Verse 17 above says that ‘the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram’ which meant that evil and falsity submitted. The present verse continues the idea that they were suppliant.

[2] The reason why evil and falsity were overcome, or why evils and falsities are overcome by means of the conflicts constituting temptations, and so why goods and truths are acquired, is that this is the manner in which evils and falsities are dispelled. Once these have been dispelled goods and truths take their place, and in the