with the external; for during man's regeneration by the goods and truths of faith, the internal man is first regenerated, and afterwards the external, because the latter is from the former, n. 3286, 3321, 3493, 3882, 8746. From these considerations it is evident, what is signified in the Word by betrothing and by being betrothed, and also what by bridegroom and bride, namely, that by betrothing is signified the conjunction of truth and good in the internal man; and by bridegroom, where the Lord and the church are treated of, is signified good, and by bride truth; as in the following passages, "I remembered to thee the mercy of thy youth, the love of thy betrothings, when thou wentest after Me, in the wilderness, in a land not sown,' Jer. ii. 2; speaking of the ancient church, and of its establishment by the Lord; the love of betrothings is the affection_of spiritual life, which is from the truths of faith and the good of love; the state of desire, when as yet they were in ignorance and a defect of those things, is signified by going after Me in the wilderness and in a land not sown. And in Hosea, "I will establish for them a covenant in that day with the wild beast of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens, and the creeping things of the earth; and I will break the bow, and the sword, and the war, and I will betroth thee to Myself in justice and in judgment, and in mercy, and in compassions," ii. 18, 19. The subject here treated of is concerning the establishment of a new church. To establish a covenant with the wild beast of the field, with the fowl of the heavens, and with the creeping things of the earth, denotes conjunction of the Lord by good and truth internal and external appertaining to man; covenant denotes conjunction, n. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778; the wild beast of the field denotes life derived from good, n. 841, 908; fowl denotes the life of truth, n. 40, 745, 776, 991, 3219, 5149, 7441; the creeping thing of the earth, denotes the goods and truths of the external and sensual man, n. 746, 909; to break the bow, the sword, and the war, is to destroy the doctrine and strength of the false; bow denotes the doctrine of the false, n. 2686, 2709; sword denotes the false combating against the truth, n. 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102; war is the combat itself, or spiritual combat, n. 1664, 2686, 8273. To break those things is to destroy; to betroth in justice and in judgment denotes to be conjoined to the Lord in good and truth; to betroth is to conjoin to Himself; justice is predicated of good, and judgment of truth, n. 2235. To betroth in mercy and in compassions, denotes to do so from love towards those who are in good, and in love towards those who are in truths. The mercy of the Lord is predicated towards those who are in want, and yet in the desire of good, and compassion towards those who are in ignorance, and yet in the desire of truth. From these consid

VOL. IX.

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erations it is evident, that betrothing denotes the conjunction of good and truth with man from the Lord. Every one may see that such things are signified in the above passage, for it is evident to perception grounded in mere natural lumen, that Jehovah does not establish a covenant with the wild beast of the field, with fowl, and with the creeping thing of the earth, but with those who are in the good and truth of faith, thus with the good and truth appertaining to man, consequently that such things lie concealed in the above prophetic passage. And in Malachi, "Judah hath acted perfidiously, because he hath profaned the holiness of Jehovali, because he hath loved and betrothed to himself the daughter of a strange god," ii. 11; where to betroth the daughter of a strange god denotes to be conjoined to the evil of the false; a strange god denotes the false, n. 4402, 4544, 7873. That bridegroom, where the Lord and the church are treated of, denotes good, and bride truth, is manifest from Isaiah, "Jehovah hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom putteth on a turban, and as a bride adorneth herself with her vessels," lxi. 10. And in the Apocalypse, "I saw the holy city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband," xxi. 2. Again, "The angel said, come, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife," Apoc. xxi. 9; where bride denotes the church. And in Matthew, "Jesus said to the disciples of John, can the sons of the marriage mourn, so long as the bridegroom is with them? but the day will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then shall they fast," ix. 15, and Luke v. 34, 35; where they are called sons of the marriage who are in the truths of the church and receive good, for the good which is from the Lord is the bridegroom; the sons of the marriage not mourning so long as the bridegroom is with them, denotes that they are in a blessed and happy state, thus with the Lord, when they are in truths conjoined to their own good; their fasting when the bridegroom is taken away from them denotes that they are in an unhappy state when good is no longer conjoined to truths; this latter state is the last state of the church, but the former is the first state. The like is signified in Matthew, chap. xxv. 1 to 12, by the bridegroom, to meet whom the ten virgins went forth; for the virgins who had oil in their lamps are they who have good in their truths; but those who had not oil in their lamps are they who have not good in truths, see n. 4638; and that oil is the good of love, n. 886, 3722, 4582. And in John, "John said, I am not the Christ, but am sent before Him; he who hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoiceth with joy by reason of the bridegroom's voice," iii. 28, 29; bride denotes the truth which is of

the faith of the church, and bridegroom denotes the good which is of the love of the church, each from the Lord, thus for the man of the church, with whom good is conjoined with truths. From these considerations it is also evident, what is meant in the internal sense by the joy and voice of the bridegroom and the bride in Isaiah, chap. lxii. 5; and in Jeremiah, chap. vii. 34; chap. xvi. 9; chap. xxv. 10; chap. xxxiii. 11; Apoc. xviii. 23; namely, that it denotes heaven and happiness derived from the conjunction of good and truth with man and angel.

9183. "And shall lie with her "-that hereby is signified illegitimate conjunction, appears from the signification of lying with a betrothed virgin, as denoting illegitimate conjunction; for by being betrothed is signified the conjunction of the internal man, but by lying with, is signified the conjunction of the external, see just above, n. 9182.

9184. "Endowing he shall endow her to himself for a woman"-that hereby is signified a ticket of consent on his part for legitimate conjunction, appears from the signification of dower and endowing, as denoting a ticket of consent, see n. 4456; and from the signification of for a woman, as denoting for legitimate conjunction; for to receive any one for a woman, is to be legitimately conjoined. Illegitimate conjunction in the spiritual sense is the conjunction of truth with an affection grounded in the delight of gain, or in the delight of honor, in which kind of affection they are principled, who learn the truths of the church for the sake of those delights; but this conjunction does not hurt those, who are afterwards regenerated by the Lord, inasmuch as with these those affections remain, but subordinate under the affection of truth for the sake of the good of use and of life, thus they are subservient, for they are in the last place, although they were seen before as being in the first place; for during the regeneration of man, the order of his life is inverted; in this manner legitimate conjunction is effected from illegitimate conjunction. The ground and reason of the possibility of this being effected is, because the truths which are of faith enter by hearing, thus by the external man, and the external man relishes only those things which are of the world and of self, and these are delights arising from gain and from honors; but when the internal man is opened by regeneration, then good from the Lord flows in through that man, and adopts and conjoins to itself the truths of faith which have entered through the external man; and according to conjunction the order is inverted, that is, what had been in the first place is put in the last; in this case the Lord attracts to Himself all things which are of the life, appertaining to man, that they may look upwards. On this occasion man regards as ends those things which are of the Lord and heaven, and the Lord Himself as the end in which all things centre, and the former things, namely,

the delights of gain and honors, as means conducive to that end. It is a known thing, that means have no life from any other source but from the end, and no life without the end; thus the delights of gain and of honors, when they are made means, have life, in this case from the life out of heaven, that is, by [or through] heaven from the Lord, for the Lord is the end in which they centre. When man is in such an order of life, then gains and honors are blessings to him; but if he be in inverted order, gains and honors are curses to him. That all things are blessings when man is in the order of heaven, the Lord teaches in Matthew, "Seek ye first the kingdom of the heavens and the justice thereof, and all things shall be added unto you," vi. 33.

9185. "If the father refusing shall refuse to give her to him" -that hereby is signified if interior good does not admit conjunction, appears from the signification of refusing, as denoting not to admit; and from the signification of giving her to him, namely, for a woman as denoting legitimate conjunction, see just above, n. 9184; and from the signification of father, as denoting good, see n. 3703, 3704, 5581, 5902, 6050, 7499, 8328, 8897, and as denoting interior good, because from interior good as a father, and from interior truth as a mother, are conceived and born exterior truths and goods, which therefore in the Word are called sons and daughters.

9186. "He shall pay silver according to the dower of vir gins" that hereby is signified other consenting truth in its place, appears from the signification of silver, as denoting truth, see n. 1551, 2954, 5658, 6112, 6914, 6917; and from the signi fication of paying, as denoting substitution in the place of the former, for he who pays dower and does not receive the virgin, gives something else for her; and from the signification of the dower of virgins, as denoting a ticket of consent for conjunction, see just above, n. 9184; which ticket is truth consenting to [or agreeing with] interior good; for the dower was fifty [pieces] of silver given to the father of the damsel, Deut. xxii. 29, thus truths initiating to full conjunction; for silver is truth, as was here shown above, and fifty denotes to the full, n. 2252, in this case other truths in the place of the former consenting to [or agreeing with] good. How the case herein is, is evident from what was shown above, to which may be added this consideration; to the intent that illegitimate conjunction may become legitimate, the good which flows in from the Lord through the internal man, must conjoin to itself the truth, which enters through the external, that is, by [or through] its hearing. If this truth do not accord with that good, then in its place must be substituted other truth, which accords, or consents to conjunction. This might be illustrated by examples; but inasmuch as the conjunction of good and truth is in thick darkness.

by reason of the removal of the good of love from the truths of faith, and the rejection of that good behind truths, and almost to the back, therefore this subject will not admit of further il lustration from examples. In general, no one can comprehend the internal sense of the Word, thus neither can he comprehena the things of angelic wisdom, unless he know and understand that all and singular things in heaven have reference to good and truth, and that nothing exists there but from the one conjoined to the other; hence it is that they are in darkness, who separate the one from the other, namely, the truth which is of faith from the good which is of charity, as they do who say that man is saved by faith alone, or by the confidence alone which is of faith. Inasmuch as such refer all things to faith and nothing to charity, it is impossible for them to comprehend any thing coucerning the heavenly things which are in the internal sense of the Word; for they are in darkness concerning good, thus also in darkness concerning the conjunction of good and truth, consequently concerning truth itself, for this in such case is involved. in the same darkness. Hence come so many and so great conjectural fancies and heresies; they who are illustrated concerning truths, are those few who are in the doctrine and at the same time in the life of truth. Let those know, who are in faith alone, that all the ideas of the thought of the angels, who are in the second heaven, and are called spiritual, are from truths which have been made goods by life, and that all the ideas of the thought of the angels, who are in the third heaven, and are called celestial, are from good; and that hence these latter are in wisdom itself, concerning which, by the Divine Mercy of the Lord, wonderful things will be said elsewhere.

9187. Verses 17, 18, 19. A witch thou shalt not vivify. Every one that lieth with a beast, dying shall die. He that sacrificeth to gods shall be devoted, except to Jehovah alone. A witch, signifies those with whom any thing of the church is conjoined to the falses of the evil of self-love. Thou shalt not vivify, signifies deprivation of spiritual life. Every one that lieth with a beast, signifies conjunction with the evils of the lusts of self-love. Dying shall die, signifies damnation. He that sacrificeth to gods, signifies the worship of falses derived from evil. Shall be devoted, signifies ejection. Except to Johovah alone, signifies that the Lord, who is the alone and only God, is to be worshipped.

9188. "A witch "that hereby is signified those with whom any thing of the church is conjoined to the falses of the evil of self-love, appears from the signification of witchcrafts, as denoting the falses of the evil of self-love conjoined with such things as are of the church. The. e are two things which make heaven, thus spiritual life with man, the truth of faith in the Lord and the good of love towards Him; a d there are two