1326、“因此，祂给那城起名叫巴别”表示这种敬拜，也就是“巴别”所表示的那种敬拜，这从目前关于敬拜所说的清楚可知，也就是说，这种敬拜内在包含自我之爱，因而包含一切污秽和亵渎的事物。自我之爱无非是人的自我，从前面关于自我的说明（210，215节）可以看出它何等污秽、亵渎。一切邪恶都是从自我之爱（philautia），也就是对自己的爱或人的自我流出的，如仇恨、报复、残忍、通奸、欺骗、虚伪、不敬神。因此，当自我之爱或人的自我存在于敬拜中时，这些邪恶也存在于其中，只是在数量和种类上的不同取决于自我之爱所产生的影响的数量和种类。这就是敬拜中的一切亵渎的起源。事实上，自我之爱或人的自我越将自己引入敬拜，内在敬拜就越退离，或变得不存在。内在敬拜在于对良善的情感和对真理的承认；但自我之爱或人的自我越接近或侵入，对良善的情感和对真理的承认就越离开或消失。神圣永远不能与亵渎共存，就像天堂不能与地狱共存那样，而是一个必离开另一个。这就是存在于主国度中的状态和秩序。这就是为何那些其敬拜被称为“巴比伦”的人当中没有内在敬拜；相反，他们敬拜某种死亡、甚至内在如死尸般的东西。由此明显可知包含这种内在之物在里面的外在敬拜是什么样子。
这种敬拜就是“巴比伦”，这一点从圣言中描述巴比伦的各个地方清楚可知，如在但以理书，对巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒梦见的雕像是这样描述的：它的头是精金的，胸膛和膀臂是银的，肚腹和大腿是铜的，腿是铁的，脚是半铁半泥的；这表示真正的敬拜最终沦落为被称为“巴比伦”的那种敬拜，所以一块从岩石中切下来的石头砸碎了铁、铜、泥、银和金（但以理书2:31-33，44，45）。巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒所立，并且他们所拜的金像没有别的意思（但以理书3章）。这也适用于对巴比伦王及其贵胄的描述，他们用从耶路撒冷神殿掠来的金器饮酒，赞美金、银、铜、铁、石所造的神，因此墙上显出字来（但以理书5章）；这同样适用于对玛代人大利乌的描述，他命令要崇拜他而不是神（但以理书6章）；还适用于但以理梦见的四兽（但以理书7章），以及约翰在启示录所描述的兽和巴比伦。
所表示和代表的是这种敬拜，这不仅从但以理书和启示录，还可从先知书很清楚地看出来。如以赛亚书：
他们的脸是火焰的脸。天上的众星群宿都不发光；日头一出，就变黑暗；月亮也不放光。夜鸮（暂译，Tziim或tsiyim）卧在那里，他们的房屋满了鸱鸮（暂译，ochim）；猫头鹰的众女住在那里，萨蒂尔（古希腊神话中的半人半羊神）在那里跳舞，鸮鸟（暂译，iyim或iim）必在它宫中回应，龙或蛇必在它玩乐的厅堂内吼叫。（以赛亚书13:8，10，21-22）
这论及巴比伦，这种敬拜的内在被描述为“火焰的脸”，也就是恶欲；“都不发光”的“众星”，也就是信之诸真理；“变黑暗”的“日头”，也就是神圣的爱；“不放光”的“月亮”，也就是信之真理；“夜鸮（暂译，Tziim或tsiyim）”、“鸱鸮（ochim）”、“猫头鹰的众女”、“萨蒂尔（古希腊神话中的半人半羊神）”和“龙或蛇”，它们是其敬拜的内层；因为这些事物属于自我之爱或人的自我。这也是为何在启示录，巴比伦被称为“淫乱和一切可憎之物的母”（启示录17:5）；以及鬼魔的住处和各样污秽之灵的牢狱，并各样污秽可憎之鸟的牢狱（启示录18:2）。从这些地方明显可知，当有这类事物在里面时，信之良善或真理不可能在那里；这类事物进入到何等程度，作为情感对象的良善和信之真理就离开到何等程度。在以赛亚书（21:9），它们还被称为“巴比伦的神像”。
在这种敬拜里面的，正是自我之爱或人的自我，或说，它就是自我崇拜，这一点在以赛亚书是很明显的：
你必向巴比伦王预言这诗歌：你心里曾说，我要升到诸天，我要高举我的宝座在神众星以上，我要坐在聚会的山上，在北方的极处。我要升到高云之上，我要与至高者同等。然而你必被抛下地狱。（以赛亚书14:4，13-14，15）
此处很明显，“巴比伦”是指想要被拜为神的人，也就是说，这是自我崇拜。
同一先知书：
巴比伦的处女啊，下来坐在尘埃；迦勒底的女儿啊，坐在地上吧，没有宝座了；你倚靠自己的恶行，说，无人看见我。你的智慧你的知识把你引入歧途；你心里说，惟有我，除我以外再没有别人。（以赛亚书47:1，10）
耶利米书：
看哪，你这行毁灭的山哪，就是毁灭全地的山，我与你反对；我必向你伸手，将你从岩石滚下去，使你成为烧毁的山。巴比伦虽爬上诸天，虽使她坚固的高处更坚固，但必有行荒废的从我这里到她那里。（耶利米书51:25，53）
这段经文再次表明，“巴比伦”是指自我崇拜。
耶利米书描述了这种人没有真理之光，只有完全的黑暗；也就是说，他们没有信之真理：
耶和华论巴比伦和迦勒底人之地所说的话。因有一民族从北方上来攻击她，使她的地荒凉，无人居住，连人带牲畜都四散走光。（耶利米书50:1，3）
“北方”表示黑暗，或真理的缺乏；“无人和牲畜”表示良善的缺乏。关于巴比伦的详情，可参看下文（11:28；1368节），那里论述了迦勒底。
注：Tziim或tsiyim，ochim，iyim或iim，其含义不确定，史威登堡认为它们是某种鸟。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]1326. The symbolism of for this reason he called its name Babel as this type of worship — specifically the type symbolized by Babel — is evident from what has been said so far. It is worship that has self-love deep inside it and consequently everything that is unclean and profane. Self-love is nothing but the conviction that we answer to ourselves alone, and the filth and profanity of human selfhood can be seen from the explanation presented earlier, in 210, 215.
From philautia{*1} — from self-love, that is, or a sense of autonomy — flows every kind of evil, such as hatred, vengefulness, cruelty, adultery, deceit, hypocrisy, and godlessness. So when our worship harbors self-love, or the desire to be our own ruler, it harbors evils like these, but with differences in amount and kind, depending on the amount and kind of influence self-love has. This is where all profanation in worship comes from.
The fact of the matter is that the more self-love or a misplaced sense of independence worms its way into our worship, the more internal worship recedes, or becomes nonexistent. Inward devotion consists in an affection for what is good and an acknowledgment of truth, but the more egoism or self-dependence advances or enters, the more an affection for goodness and the acknowledgment of truth withdraw or leave. Holiness can never coexist with profanation, just as heaven cannot coexist with hell. The one needs to separate from the other; that is what conditions in the Lord's kingdom, and the way it is organized, require. This is the reason why inward worship does not exist in those whose worship is called "Babel." Instead they worship something dead and even cadaverous that lies within. It is evident, then, what outward worship is like when something like this lies at its core.
[2] The fact that this kind of worship is Babel can be seen in the many places where the Word describes Babel [Babylon]. Daniel contains one example in the statue that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, saw in a dream. Its head was gold; its chest and arms, silver; its belly and thighs, bronze; its legs, iron; its feet, part iron and part clay. The statue symbolizes the fact that from true worship there finally evolved the kind of worship called Babylon, and that is why a stone cut out of a rock crushed the iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. (See Daniel 2:31, 32, 33, 44-45.) The statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, set up, and that the people worshiped, was also nothing else (Daniel 3). Likewise the fact that the king of Babylon drank wine with his nobles out of the golden vessels from Jerusalem's Temple, that they praised gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and stone, and that this resulted in the handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5). Then there was the command by Darius the Mede that he be revered as god (Daniel 6); and there were the beasts that Daniel saw in a dream (Daniel 7), and likewise the beasts and Babylon in John's Book of Revelation.{*2} [3] The fact that this kind of worship is symbolized and represented is clear to see not only in Daniel and John but also in the prophets. In Isaiah:
Their faces are faces aflame. The stars of the heavens and their constellations do not shed their light. The sun has been shadowed over in its entrance, and the moon does not radiate its light. Tsiyim lie down there, and their houses are filled with ochim, and daughters of the owl live there, and satyrs leap there, and iyim answer in its palaces, and serpents in its pleasure halls.{*3} (Isaiah 13:8, 10, 21-22)
This passage is talking about Babylon and describing the inner content of this kind of worship. It does so through the faces aflame (cravings), the failure of the stars (individual religious truths) to shine, the overshadowing of the sun (sacred love), the failure of the moon (religious truth as a whole) to radiate, and the tsiyim, ochim, daughters of the owl, satyrs, iyim, and serpents (inward aspects of worship) because these properties characterize self-love. So in John (Revelation 17:5), Babylon is also called the mother of obscenities and abominations. And the same author calls it "a dwelling place for serpents,{*4} and a prison for every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird" (Revelation 18:2). When such attributes lie at the core, obviously no religious goodness or truth can exist, and the good effects of love and the true ideas of faith retreat as those attributes invade. In Isaiah 21:9 they are also called carved images of the Babylonian gods.
[4] The fact that self-love (arrogant self-dependence) is what pervades self-worship, or actually constitutes self-worship, is plain to see in Isaiah:
Prophesy this parable over the monarch of Babylon: You have said in your heart, "I will scale the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God and sit on the mountain of assembly, on the flanks of the north.{*5} I will climb above the loftiest parts of the cloud; I will become like the Highest One." Nevertheless, you will be thrown down to hell. (Isaiah 14:4, 13-14, 15)
In these verses, clearly, Babylon is one who wishes to be worshiped as a god; in other words, it is self-worship.
[5] In the same author:
Go down and sit in the dirt, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the earth. There is no throne, daughter of the Chaldeans. You trusted in your wickedness; you said, "There is no one to see me." Your wisdom and your knowledge turned you away. You said in your heart, "I am, and there is no one else like me." (Isaiah 47:1, 10)
In Jeremiah:
Here now, I am against you, ruinous mountain, ruining the whole earth; and I will stretch my hand out over you and roll you down from the rocks and make you a mountain aflame. If Babylon climbs into the heavens, and if it fortifies its lofty stronghold, destroyers will come to it from me. (Jeremiah 51:25, 53)
This too shows that Babylon is self-worship.
[6] Jeremiah describes the fact that they have no light of truth — none of the truth that faith espouses — but pure darkness:
The word that Jehovah has spoken against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans: "A nation from the north will come up over them. It will make their land a desolation, and nothing will live in it; from human to animal they will move off, they will leave." (Jeremiah 50:1, 3)
The north stands for darkness, or lack of truth. No human and no animal stands for a lack of goodness.
For more on Babylon, see below at verse 28, where it speaks of Chaldea [1368].
Footnotes:
{*1} Philautia is an ancient Greek word denoting self-love. It was used in Latin from early times through the Neo-Latin period; see, for example, Cicero Letters to Atticus 13:13:1 and Erasmus Praise of Folly 9, where the personified Philautia is one of the attendants of Folly. [SS]
{*2} For an example of a beast in the Book of Revelation, see Revelation 13; for treatment of Babylon, see Revelation 18. [LHC]
{*3} Like "tsiyim" (see note 2 in 306 above), "ochim," and "iyim" are transliterations of plural Hebrew words: אֹחִים ('ōḥîm) and אִיִּים ('îyyîm). They reflect similar transliterations of Hebrew in Swedenborg's Latin first edition here. Again as in the case of "tsiyim," the exact identity of these types of creatures is obscure. Biblical scholars and translators have generally presented them as wild, predatory animals, but Swedenborg clearly takes them to be birds (True Christianity 661:12; Marriage Love 430). [JSR]
{*4} The Latin word for "serpents" here is draconum; its Greek equivalent would be δράκοντων (drácontōn). But the Greek word that actually appears in Revelation 18:2 is δαιμόνων (daimónōn), meaning "demons," and the Latin equivalent would be daemonum. Elliott (Swedenborg [1749-1756] 1983-1999) makes and annotates the correction in his translation. [LHC]
{*5} On "the flanks of the north," see note 4 in 1151. [Editors]
Potts(1905-1910) 1326
1326. Therefore He called the name of it Babel. That this signifies such worship, that is, the kind of worship signified by "Babel," is evident from what has been said hitherto; that is to say, worship in which interiorly there is the love of self, and therefore all that is filthy and profane. The love of self is nothing else than man's Own; and how filthy and profane this is may be seen from what has been shown before concerning man's Own (n. 210, 215). From self-love [philautia], that is, the love of self, or man's Own, all evils flow, such as hatreds, revenges, cruelties, adulteries, deceits, hypocrisies, impiety; and therefore when the love of self, or man's Own, is in the worship, such evils are in it, according to the difference and degree of quantity and quality that are from that love. Hence comes all the profanation of worship. In point of fact, in proportion as anything from the love of self, or from man's Own, is introduced into worship, in the same proportion internal worship departs, that is, it comes to pass that there is no internal worship. Internal worship consists in the affection of good and the acknowledgment of truth, and in proportion as the love of self, that is, in proportion as man's Own, makes its approach, or enters in, the affection of good and the acknowledgment of truth depart, or go out. The holy can never be with the profane, just as heaven cannot be with hell, but the one must take its departure from the other. Such is the state and order in the Lord's kingdom. This is the reason why there is no internal worship among such men as those whose worship is called "Babel," but only a kind of dead thing, and in fact one inwardly cadaverous, that is worshiped. From this it is evident what must be the quality of the external worship that contains such an internal within it. [2] That such worship is "Babel," is evident from the Word in various places where Babel is described, as in Daniel, where the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon* saw in a dream-the head of which was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, the legs of iron, and the feet part of iron and part of clay-signifies that from true worship there finally comes such worship as is called "Babel;" and therefore a stone cut out of the rock broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold (Dan. 2:31-33, 44, 45). The image of gold that Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon set up, and which they worshiped, was nothing else (Dan. 3:1 to the end). The like is signified by the king of Babylon with his lords drinking wine out of the vessels of gold that had been brought from the temple at Jerusalem, and praising the gods of gold, of silver, of brass, of iron, and of stone, on which account there appeared the writing upon the wall (Dan. 5:1 to the end). The like is signified also by Darius the Mede commanding that he should be adored as a god (Dan. 6:7 to the end); and likewise by the beasts seen by Daniel in a dream (Dan. 7:1 to the end) and the beasts and the Babylon described by John in the Revelation. [3] That such worship was signified and represented is very evident, not only in Daniel and John, but also in the Prophets. As in Isaiah:
Their faces are faces of flames. The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shine not with their light; the sun is darkened in his going forth, and the moon doth not cause her light to shine. There do the Ziim couch, and their houses are filled with the Ochim; and the daughters of the night owl dwell there, and satyrs dance there, and Iim answer in her palaces, and dragons in the buildings of pleasure (Isa. 13:8, 10, 21-22). This is said of Babylon, and the internal of such worship is described by "faces of flames," which are cupidities 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 shining;" by "the Ziim," "Ochim," "daughters of the owl," "satyrs," "Iim," and "dragons," as being the interiors of their worship; for such things are of the love of self, that is, of man's Own. And therefore also Babylon is called in John "the mother of whoredoms and abominations" (Rev. 17:5); and also "a habitation of dragons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird" (Rev. 18:2); from all which it is evident that with such things within, there cannot be anything of good, or of the truth of faith; and that insofar as the goods of affection and the truths of faith depart, such things enter in. The same are called also "the graven images of the gods of Babylon" (Isa. 21:9). [4] That it is the love of self, or the Own of man, that is in such worship, or that it is the worship of self, is very evident in Isaiah:
Prophesy this parable upon the king of Babylon: Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be cast down to hell (Isa. 14:4, 13-15). Here it is manifest that "Babylon" denotes one who desires to be worshiped as a god; that is, that it is the worship of self. [5] Again:
Come down, and sit on the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit in the earth, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans; thou hath trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me; thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath averted thee; thou hast said in thine heart, I, and there is none else besides like me (Isa. 47:1, 10). In Jeremiah:
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, that destroyeth all the earth; and I will stretch out My hand upon thee, and will roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee into a mountain of burning. Though Babylon should mount up to the heavens, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from Me shall they that lay waste come to her (Jer. 51:25, 53). From this passage also it is evident that "Babylon" is the worship of self. [6] That such persons have no light of truth, but total darkness; that is, that they have no truth of faith, is described in Jeremiah:
The word that Jehovah spoke against Babylon, against the land of the Chaldeans. Out of the north there shall ascend upon her a nation that shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell therein; from man even to beast they shall move asunder, they shall be gone (Jer. 50:1, 3);
"the north" denotes thick darkness, or no truth; "no man and no beast," no good. (See further concerning Babel, below, at verse 28, where Chaldea is treated of.) * In the original Latin "Babel" and "Babylon" are the same, namely, "Babel." "Babylon" is the Greek form of the word. [Reviser.]
Elliott(1983-1999) 1326
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,a 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.
[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,b 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'.
[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.
[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 28c below, where Chaldea is referred to.
Latin(1748-1756) 1326
1326. 'Propterea vocavit nomen ejus Babel': quod significet talem cultum, nempe qualis cultus significatur per 'Babel,' constat ab illis quae hactenus dicta sunt, nempe cultus in quo interius est amor sui, proinde omne quod spurcum et profanum; amor sui non aliud est quam proprium, quod quam spurcum et profanum sit, constare potest ab illis quae de proprio ostensa sunt prius n. 210, 215; ex {1}philautia, hoc est, amore sui seu proprio profluunt omnia mala, sicut odia, vindictae, crudelitates, adulteria, doli, hypocrises, impietas; quare cum amor sui seu proprium inest cultui, talia mala ei insunt, sed secundum differentiam et gradum quanti et qualis quod ex amore isto; inde omnis profanatio cultus: sed ita se res habet: quantum ex amore sui seu proprio se infert cultui, tantum recedit cultus internus seu tantum fit nullus cultus internus; cultus internus consistit in affectione boni et agnitione veri, at quantum amoris sui seu quantum proprii incedit seu intrat, tantum affectio boni et agnitio veri recedit seu exit; sanctum nusquam potest esse cum profano, sicut non caelum cum inferno, sed discedere unum ab altero debet; talis est status et ordo in regno Domini; haec causa est quod apud tales quorum cultus 'Babel' vocatur, non detur cultus internus, sed est quoddam mortuum et quidem cadaverosum interius quod colitur; inde qualis est cultus eorum externus in quo tale, patet; [2] quod talis cultus sit Babel, constat passim ex Verbo ubi describitur Babel, ut apud Danielem, ubi 'statua, quam vidit Nebuchadnezzar rex Babelis in somnio, cujus caput aurum, pectus et brachia argentum, venter et femora aes, crura ferrum, pedes partim ferrum partim argilla' significat quod ex vero cultu demum talis cultus qualis vocatur Babel factus, quare etiam e petra excisus lapis contrivit ferrum, aes, argillam, argentum et aurum, Dan. ii 31, 32, [33], 44, 45:Statua auri, quam erexit Nebuchadnezzar rex Babelis, quam adorarent, nec aliud erat, Dan iii 1 ad fin:
similiter quod rex Babelis cum magnatibus, ex vasis auri quae erant ex templo Hierosolymae, biberent vinum, et laudarent deos auri, argenti, aeris, ferri et lapidis, et ideo scriptura in pariete, Dan. v 1 ad fin:
tum quod Darius Medus mandaverit ut adoraretur pro deo, Dan. vi 1 ad fin:
ut et bestiae in somnio visae Danieli, Dan vii 1 ad fin:
[3] similiter etiam 'bestiae et Babel' apud Johannem in Apocalypsi: quod talis cultus significatus et repraesentatus, constat manifeste non modo apud Danielem et Johannem sed etiam apud Prophetas; apud Esaiam, Facies flammarum facies eorum;... stellae caelorum et sidera eorum non lucent luce sua; obtenebratus est sol in ingressu suo; et luna non splendere facit lucem suam:... cubant ibi {2}ziim, et implentur domus eorum {2}ochim, et habitant ibi filiae noctuae, et satyri saltant ibi, et respondent {2}iim in palatiis ejus, et dracones in aedibus voluptatis, xiii 8, 10, 21, 22;
ubi agitur de Babele, et describitur internam cultus talis per 'facies flammarum' quae sunt cupiditates, per quod 'stellae,' quae sunt veritates fidei, 'non luceant,' per quod 'sol,' qui est amor sanctus, 'obtenebretur,' per quod 'luna,' quae est verum fidei, 'non splendeat,' per 'ziim, ochim, filias noctuae, satyros, iim, dracones,' quod sint interiora cultus, nam talia sunt amoris sui seu proprii: quare etiam Babel apud Johannem vocatur 'mater scortationum et abominationum,' Apoc. xvii 5, et apud eundem, Habitaculum draconum, et custodia omnis spiritus immundi, et custodia omnis avis immundae et exosae, Apoc. xviii 2;
ex quibus patet, cum talia intus, quod non possit esse aliquid boni et veri fidei; et quod in tantum recedant bona affectionis et vera fidei, in quantum illa intrant: vocantur ea quoque 'sculptilia deorum Babelis,' Esai. xxi 9. [4] Quod sit amor sui seu proprium, quod in cultu seu quod sit cultus sui, constat manifeste apud Esaiam, Propheta parabolam hanc super regem Babelis:... tu dixisti in corde tuo, Caelos ascendam, supra stellas Dei exaltabo thronum meum, et sedebo in monte conventus, in lateribus septentrionis; ascendam supra excelsa nubis; similis fiam Altissimo; verumtamen ad infernum dejectus eris, xiv 4, 13-15;
ubi manifeste quod 'Babel' sit qui pro deo vult coli, hoc est, quod sit cultus sui: apud eundem, [5] Descende, et sede super pulvere virgo filia Babelis; sede in terra, non thronus, filia Chaldaeorum;... confisa es in malitia tua, dixisti, Nullus videns me, sapientia tua et scientia tua ea avertit te, dixisti in corde tuo, Ego et non sicut ego praeterea, xlvii 1, 10:
apud Jeremiam, Ecce ego contra te mons corrumpens, corrumpens totam terram, et extendam, manum, Meam supra te, et devolvam te de petris, et dabo te in montem combustionis:... si ascenderit Babel in caelos, et si muniverit excelsum roboris sui, a Mecum venient vastatores ei, li 25, 53;
[6] inde quoque patet quod 'Babel' sit cultus sui. Quod nulla iis lux veri sed mera caligo, hoc est, quod non iis verum fidei, describitur apud Jeremiam, Verbum quod locutus est Jehovah contra Babelem; contra terram Chaldaeorum;... Ascendet super eam gens a septentrione, haec ponet terram ejus in desolationem, et non erit habitans in ea, ab homine usque ad bestiam se dimovebunt, abibunt, l 1, 3;
'septentrio' pro caligine seu non vero; 'non homo et non bestia' pro non bono: videantur plura de Babele infra ad vers. 28 ubi de Chaldaea. @1 Gk. = 'self love.' This appears to be the only occasion on which S. uses it; it is not a recognized Latin form.$ @2 These are from Heb. (tsiyim) = desert-dwellers, ('ohim) = howling creatures, ('iyim) = howlings, R.V. wolves. All these meanings are conjectural, and S. retains the Heb. forms.$