1839、“看哪，有可怕的大黑暗落在他身上”表示那黑暗是可怕的，“黑暗”表示虚假。这从“黑暗”的含义清楚可知，稍后会解释，“黑暗”是指虚假。“可怕的大黑暗”描述了就在完结之前，也就是日头正落的时候，教会的状态；而“幽暗”和15:17提到的其它细节则描述了日头落下的时候，教会的状态。
主在马太福音也是这样描述它的：
日头就变黑了，月亮也不放光，众星要从天上坠落，天势都要震动。（马太福音24:29）
主并不是说这个世界的太阳要变黑，而是说爱和仁的属天实体要变黑；也不是月亮要变黑，而是信的属灵实体要变黑；从天上坠落的不是众星，而是教会成员对良善和真理的认知，因为这些认知就是“天势”；并且这些事不会发生在天上，而是发生在地上，因为天堂永远不会变黑。
“有可怕的大黑暗落在他身上”表示主对如此巨大的荒废或破坏感到恐惧。一个人越专注于爱的天堂事物或属天事物，就越因看见完结而感到恐惧。比起其他所有人，这更适用于主，因为祂处于神性和天堂的爱本身。
“黑暗”（或暗）表示虚假，这从圣言中的许多经文清楚看出来，如以赛亚书：
祸哉！那些以暗为光，以光为暗的人。（以赛亚书5:20）
“暗”表示虚假，“光”表示真理。同一先知书：
人望着地，只见黑暗痛苦；光明变黑暗。（以赛亚书5:30）
“黑暗”表示虚假，“光明变黑暗”表示真理没有出现。
同一先知书：
看哪，黑暗遮盖大地，幽暗遮盖万民。（以赛亚书60:2）
阿摩司书：
耶和华的日子黑暗没有光明。耶和华的日子，不是黑暗没有光明吗？不是幽暗毫无光辉在里头吗？（阿摩司书5:18，20）
西番雅书：
耶和华的大日临近；那日是震怒的日子，是痛苦和忧虑的日子，是荒废和凄凉的日子，是黑暗和幽冥、密云和阴霾的日子。（西番雅书1:14-15）
在这些经文中，“耶和华的日子”表示教会的末期和状态，“黑暗和幽冥”表示虚假和邪恶。
主在马太福音中也称虚假为“黑暗”：
如果你的眼睛坏了，全身就黑暗。你里头的光若是黑暗，那黑暗是何等大呢！（马太福音6:23）
此处“黑暗”表示临到那些拥有（宗教）知识或认知之人的虚假；“那黑暗是何等大呢”表示这黑暗比那些没有知识或认知的外邦人的还要大，或说他们比缺乏这种知识或认知的民族更愚昧无知。
同一福音书：
惟有本国的子民要被赶到外边黑暗里去。（马太福音8:12；22:13）
“外边黑暗”表示教会里的人的更可怕的虚假，因为这些人使光变得黑暗，用虚假反对真理，这种事是外邦人无法做到的。约翰福音：
生命在祂里头，这生命就是人的光。光照在黑暗里，黑暗却不领会光。（约翰福音1:4-5）
此处“黑暗”表示教会里面的虚假。
教会外面的虚假也被称为“黑暗”，但这些黑暗能接受光。论到这黑暗，马太福音上说：
那坐在黑暗里的百姓，看见了大光；坐在死荫之地的人，有光向那些坐在死荫之地的人出现。（马太福音4:16）
此处“黑暗”表示无知的虚假，就是存在于外邦人当中的那种虚假。
约翰福音：
审判乃是这样：光来到世界，世人因自己的行为是恶的，不爱光倒爱黑暗。（约翰福音3:19）
“光”表示真理，“黑暗”表示虚假；“光”也表示主，因为一切真理都来自主；而“黑暗”表示地狱，因为一切虚假都来自地狱。
同一福音书：
耶稣说，我是世界的光。跟从我的，必不在黑暗里走。（约翰福音8:12）
又：
你们应当趁着有光的时候行走，免得黑暗临到你们；那在黑暗里行走的，不知道往何处去。我作为光到世界上来，叫凡信我的，不住在黑暗里。（约翰福音12:35，46）
“光”表示主，一切良善和真理的源头；“黑暗”表示虚假，唯独主驱散它们。
在末期盛行，在此被称为“黑暗”，也就是“可怕的大黑暗”所论及的虚假由（耶稣受难时）从午正到申初（犹太民族时间中午6点到下午9点，中国时间中午12点到下午3点）临到全地的黑暗，以及那时变黑的日头（马太福音27:45；马可福音15:33；路加福音23:44-45）来代表和表示，“日头变黑”代表并表示那时不再有爱和信。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]1839. Look — terror of immense shadows was falling on him means that the shadows were frightening; and shadows are falsities. This can be seen from the symbolism of shadows as falsities (discussed just below).
Conditions in the church before the end but when the sun was about to set are portrayed as terror of immense shadows, but conditions after sunset are portrayed as darkness and more in verse 17 below.{*1} [2] The Lord describes it this way in Matthew:
The sun will go dark, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall down from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. (Matthew 24:29)
It is not the world's sun that will go dark, but the heavenly radiance of love and charity. It is not the moon that will, but the spiritual luster of faith. It is not the stars that will fall down from heaven, but knowledge of goodness and truth in religious people, this knowledge being the powers of the heavens. And it is not in heaven that these things will happen, since heaven is never dark, but on earth.
[3] The terror of immense shadows that was falling on him is his shrinking in horror from such enormous devastation. The more devoted a person is to the heavenly qualities of love, the more horror that person feels on seeing the end approach — the Lord most of all, since he was moved by divine and heavenly love itself.
[4] The symbolism of shadows as falsities can be seen from quite a few passages in the Word. In Isaiah, for instance:
Doom to those who put shadow for light and light for shadow! (Isaiah 5:20)
The shadow stands for falsity and the light for truth. In the same author:
One will gaze on the land, and look — shadow, distress; and the light has been shadowed over. (Isaiah 5:30)
The shadow stands for falsity. The shadowing of the light stands for the disappearance of truth.
[5] In the same author:
Look — shadows cover the earth, and darkness, the peoples. (Isaiah 60:2)
In Amos:
The day of Jehovah is one of shadow and lack of light. Is the day of Jehovah not shadow and lack of light? And is there not darkness and lack of radiance on it? (Amos 5:18, 20)
In Zephaniah:
The great day of Jehovah is near. A day of wrath is that day, a day of anguish and distress, a day of devastation and ruin, a day of shadow and darkness, a day of cloud and gloom. (Zephaniah 1:14-15)
The day of Jehovah stands for the last days and the final stage of the church. The shadow and darkness stand for falsity and evil.
[6] The Lord himself also refers to falsity as shadow, in Matthew:
If your eye is bad, your whole body is dark, so if the light that is in you is shadow, how immense the shadow! (Matthew 6:23)
The shadow stands for the type of falsity that overcomes people who possess religious knowledge. [How immense the shadow] means how much more benighted they are than nations who lack that knowledge.
[7] Again in the same author:
The children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer shadow. (Matthew 8:12; 22:13)
Outer shadow stands for the more heinous misconceptions of people in the church, because these people block the light and introduce false thinking that opposes truth, which people outside the church are incapable of doing. In John:
In him was life, and the life was the light of humankind; the light, however, appears in the shadows, but the shadows have not comprehended it. (John 1:4-5)
The shadows stand for falsity within the church.
[8] Falsity outside the church is also called shadow, but shadow in which light can shine. This shadow is mentioned in Matthew:
The people sitting in shadow have seen a great light; and on those sitting in the vicinity and gloom of death, light has risen. (Matthew 4:16)
The shadow stands for the false ideas that result when knowledge is lacking — the kind of shadow that people outside the church experience.
[9] In John:
This is the judgment: that the light came into the world but people loved shadow more than light, since their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)
The light stands for truth and the shadow for falsity. The light also stands for the Lord because all truth is from him, and the shadow stands for the hells because all falsity is from them. In the same author:
Jesus said, "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in shadow." (John 8:12)
[10] In the same author:
Walk, as long as you have light, to prevent the shadows from overtaking you, because whoever walks in the shadow does not know where to head. I have come into the world as the light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in shadow. (John 12:35, 46)
The light stands for the Lord, the source of everything good and true. The shadow stands for falsity that the Lord alone dispels.
[11] The lies being spread during the [church's] final days, called shadows here, or at least referred to in the phrase "terror of immense shadows," were represented and symbolized by the shadows that fell on the whole earth from the sixth hour to the ninth [during the Crucifixion], and by the fact that the sun was shadowed over at the same time, which represented and symbolized the dying out then of love and faith (Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45).
Footnotes:
{*1} The Latin words here translated "shadow" and "darkness," tenebrae and caligo, respectively, are virtually identical in meaning. To preserve the distinction Swedenborg is drawing between the two words, tenebrae is translated as "shadows" and caligo as "darkness" throughout this chapter (but not elsewhere). For more about Swedenborg's use of caligo in this chapter, see note 1 in 860 below. [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 1839
1839. Behold a terror of great darkness falling upon him. That this signifies that the darkness was terrible, and that "darkness" means falsities, is evident from the signification of "darkness," as being falsities, to be explained presently. The state of the church before its consummation, when the sun was "going down," is described by the "terror of great darkness;" but its state when the sun had gone down is described by the "thick darkness" and the other things mentioned in verse 17. [2] The same is thus described by the Lord in Matthew:
The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29). This does not mean that the sun of the world will be darkened, but the celestial which is of love and charity; nor the moon, but the spiritual which is of faith; nor that the stars will fall from heaven, but that the knowledges of good and truth with the man of the church will do so, for these are "the powers of the heavens;" nor will these things take place in heaven, but on earth; for heaven is never darkened. [3] That "a terror of great darkness fell upon him," means that the Lord was horrified at so great a vastation. So far as anyone is in the celestial things of love, so far does he feel horror when he perceives a consummation. So it was with the Lord, above all others; for He was in love itself, both celestial and Divine. [4] That "darkness" signifies falsities is evident from very many passages in the Word; as in Isaiah:
Woe unto them that put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isa. 5:20);
"darkness" denotes falsities, and "light" truths. In the same:
He shall look onto the land, and behold darkness, distress, and the light is darkened (Isa. 5:30);
"darkness" denoting falsities, and "the light darkened" the truth not appearing. [5] In the same:
Behold, darkness covereth the earth, and thick darkness the peoples (Isa. 60:2). In Amos:
The day of Jehovah, it is darkness, and not light. Shall not the day of Jehovah be darkness, and not light? and thick darkness and no brightness in it? (Amos 5:18, 20). In Zephaniah:
The great day of Jehovah is near; that day is a day of wrath, a day of straitness and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and shade (Zeph. 1:14-15). In these passages, the "day of Jehovah" denotes the last time and state of the church; "darkness and thick darkness" falsities and evils. [6] The Lord likewise calls falsities "darkness" in Matthew:
If thine eye be evil, thy whole body is* darkened. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matt. 6:33). "Darkness" here denotes the falsities which take possession of those who are in knowledges; and the meaning is, how great is this darkness above that of others, or of the Gentiles,, who have not knowledges. [7] Again in Matthew:
The sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12; 22:13). "The outer darkness" denotes the more direful falsities of those who are in the church; for they darken the light, and bring up falsities against truths, which Gentiles cannot do. In John:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light appeareth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not (John 1:4-5). "The darkness" here denotes falsities within the church. [8] Falsities outside of the church are also called "darkness," but such as can be illuminated. Such are spoken of in Matthew:
The people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, did light spring up (Matt. 4:16);
"darkness" here denoting the falsities of ignorance, such as are those of the Gentiles. [9] In John:
And this is the judgment, that the Light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their works were evil (John 3:19);
"the Light" denotes truths, and "the darkness" falsities; and "the Light" denotes the Lord, because all truth is from Him; and "the darkness" the hells, because all falsity is from them. [10] Again:
Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness (John 8:12). And again:
Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness seize upon you, for he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in the darkness (John 12:35, 46). "The light" denotes the Lord, from whom are all good and truth; "the darkness" falsities, which are dispersed by the Lord alone. [11] The falsities of the last times, which are called "darkness" in the verse before us, or of which the "terror of great darkness" is predicated, were represented and signified by the darkness that came upon the whole earth, from the sixth hour to the ninth [at the crucifixion], and also by the sun being then darkened, by which was represented and signified that there was then no longer either love or faith (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44-45). * Est: but elsewhere erit, as n. 9051.
Elliott(1983-1999) 1839
1839. That 'behold, a dread of great darkness was coming over him' means that it was a dreadful darkness, 'darkness' being falsities, is clear from the meaning of 'darkness' as falsities, to be dealt with immediately below. The state of the Church just before the close, or when the sun was going down, is described by 'the dread of great darkness', but the state when the sun had gone down is described by 'the thick darkness' and other details given in verse 17 below.
[2] The Lord spoke of it in the same way in Matthew,
The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt 24:29.
He did not mean that the sun of the world will be darkened but the celestial entity of love and charity. Nor will the moon be darkened but the spiritual entity of faith. Nor will the stars fall from heaven but the cognitions of good and truth with the member of the Church, which are 'the powers of the heavens'. Nor will these things take place in heaven but on earth, for heaven is never plunged into darkness.
[3] 'A dread of great darkness fell on him' means His horror at such great devastation. In the measure that the heavenly or celestial things of love find acceptance in anyone, so great is his horror when he perceives the close. This applied to the Lord more than anybody else, since His love was heavenly and Divine love itself.
[4] 'Darkness' means falsities, as is clear from very many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,
Woe to those who put darkness for light, and light for darkness! Isa 5:20.
'Darkness' stands for falsities and 'light' for truths. In the same prophet, He will look to the land, and behold, darkness, distress; and the light has been darkened. Isa 5:30.
'Darkness' stands for falsities, 'darkened light' for the fact that truth does not appear.
[5] In the same prophet,
Behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. Isa 60:2.
In Amos,
The day of Jehovah is that of darkness and not light. Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, thick darkness and no brightness in it? Amos 5:18, 20.
In Zephaniah,
The great day of Jehovah is near. A day of wrath is that day, a day of anguish and repression, a day of vastation and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness, a day of cloud and shadow. Zeph 1:14, 15.
Here 'the day of Jehovah' stands for the final period and state of the Church, while 'darkness and thick darkness' stands for falsities and evils.
[6] The Lord too calls falsities 'darkness', in Matthew,
If your eye has been evil, the whole body has been made full of darkness. If therefore the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! Matt 6:23.
'Darkness' is used to mean falsities that have overtaken people who possess cognitions, a greater darkness than that found in those called gentiles, who have no cognitions.
[7] Similarly in the same gospel,
The sons of the kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness. Matt 8:12; 22:13.
'Outer darkness' stands for the quite dreadful falsities of those inside the Church, for those people shut out the light and oppose truths with falsities, something gentiles are not able to do. In John,
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; but the light appears in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:4, 5.
'The darkness' stands for falsities inside the Church.
[8] Falsities outside the Church too are called 'darkness' but these are capable of receiving light. Of them it is said in Matthew,
The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light; and for those sitting in the region and shadow of death, the light has arisen. Matt 4:16.
'Darkness' stands for falsities that go with not knowing, such as exist with gentiles.
[9] In John,
This is the judgement, that light has come into the world, but men have preferred darkness rather than light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:19.
'Light' stands for truths, and 'darkness' for falsities. 'The light' also stands for the Lord since He is the source of all truth, while 'darkness' stands for the hells since they are the source of all falsity.
[10] In the same gospel,
Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness. John 8:12.
In the same gospel,
Walk, as long as you have the light, lest darkness overtakes you, for he who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. I have come as light into the world in order that all who believe in Me may not remain in darkness. John 12:35, 46.
'Light' stands for the Lord, the source of all good and truth, 'darkness' for falsities, which are dispersed by the Lord alone.
[11] The falsities that prevail in the last times and which are called 'the darkness' here, that is, to which 'the dread of great darkness' has reference, were represented and meant by the darkness that came over the whole earth from the sixth to the ninth hour, and also by the sun's being darkened at that time, by which was represented and meant that no love, that is, no faith, existed any more, Matt 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44, 45.
Latin(1748-1756) 1839
1839. Quod 'ecce terror tenebrarum magnarum cadens super illum' significet quod tenebrae terribiles essent, et quod tenebrae sint falsitates, constat a significatione 'tenebrarum' quod sint falsitates, de qua mox: status Ecclesiae ante consummationem, seu cum sol es ad occidendum, describitur per 'terrorem tenebrarum magnarum' status autem cum sol occidit, describitur per 'caliginem,' et plura, vers. seq. 17. [2] A Domino ita apud Matthaeum, Sol obscurabitur, et luna non dabit lumen suum, et stellae cadent de caelo, et virtutes caelorum commovebuntur, xxiv 29:non quod sol mundi obscurabitur, sed caeleste quod est amoris charitatis; nec quod luna, sed spirituale quod est fidei; nec quod stellae cadent de caelo, sed quod cognitiones boni et veri apud hominem Ecclesiae, quae sunt 'virtutes caelorum'; nec in caelo haec, nam caeli nusquam obscuratur, sed in terra. [3] Quod 'terror tenebrarum magnarum caderet super illum' est quod horruerit tantam vastitatem; quantum aliquis in caelestibus amoris, tantus est horror cum percipit consummationem; apud Dominum prae aliis, Qui in ipso amore caelesti et Divino fuit. [4] Quod 'tenebrae' significent falsitates, constat a plurimis locis in Verbo; ut apud Esaiam, Vae ponentibus tenebras in lucem, et lucem in tenebras, v 20;
'tenebrae' pro falsis, et 'lux' pro veris: apud eundem, Spectabit in terram, et ecce tenebrae, angustia, et obtenebrata est, v 30;
'tenebrae' pro falsis, 'lux obtenebrata' pro quod non appareat verum: [5] apud eundem, Ecce tenebrae obtegunt terram, et caligo populos, lx 2: apud Amos, Dies Jehovae ille tenebrarum, et non lux;... non tenebrae dies Jehovae et non lux? et caligo et non splendor v 18, 20:
apud Zephaniam, Propinquus dies Jehovae magnus,... dies excandescentiae dies ille, dies angustiae et coarctationis, dies vastitatis et desolationis, dies tenebrarum et caliginis, dies nubis et opacitatis, i 14, 15;
ubi 'dies Jehovae' pro ultimo tempore et statu Ecclesiae, 'tenebrae et caligo' pro falsis et malis. [6] Dominus quoque falsitates appellat tenebras, apud Matthaeum, Si oculus tuus malus fuerit, totum corpus obtenebratum est; si ergo lumen quod in te est, tenebrae sunt, tenebrae quantae, vi 23;
'tenebrae' pro falsis quae occupant eos qui in cognitionibus, quae quantae sunt prae tenebris illorum, seu gentium, quae non habent cognitiones, intelliguntur: [7] similiter apud eundem, Filii regni ejicientur in tenebras exteriores, viii 12; xxii 13;
'tenebrae exteriores' pro falsitatibus dirioribus eorum qui in Ecclesia sunt, nam ii obtenebrant lucem, et inducunt falsitates contra vera, quod gentes nequeunt: apud Johannem, In Ipso vita erat, et vita erat lux hominum, lux autem in tenebris apparet, sed tenebrae illam non comprehenderunt, i 4, 5;
'tenebrae' pro falsitatibus intra Ecclesiam. Falsitates extra Ecclesiam etiam vocantur tenebrae, sed quae illuminari possunt, [8] de quibus apud Matthaeum, Populus sedens in tenebris vidit lumen magnum, et sedentibus in regione et umbra mortis, lux exorta illis est, iv 16;
'tenebrae' pro falsis ignorantiae quales sunt gentium: [9] apud Johannem, Hoc est judicium, quod lux venit in mundum, sed dilexerunt homines magis tenebras, quam lucem, erant enim opera eorum mala iii 19;
'lux' pro veris, et 'tenebrae' pro falsis; et 'lux' pro Domino quia ab Ipso omne verum, 'tenebrae' pro infernis quia inde omne falsum: [10] apud eundem, Jesus dixit, Ego sum lux mundi; qui Me sequitur, non ambulabit in tenebris viii 12:
apud eundem, Ambulate, quousque lucem habetis, ne tenebrae vos apprehendant; nam qui ambulat in tenebris non scit quorsum abeat.... Ego lux in mundum veni, ut omnis qui credit in Me, in tenebris non maneat, xii (x)35, 46;
'lux' pro Domino, a Quo omne bonum et verum, 'tenebrae' pro falsis, quae a solo Domino discutiuntur. [11] Falsitates ultimorum temporum quae hic 'tenebrae' vocantur seu de quibus praedicatur 'terror tenebrarum magnarum,' repraesentatae sunt et significatae per 'tenebras factas super universam terram, ab hora sexta usque ad nonam'; tum quod tunc 'sol obtenebratus,' quo repraesentatum et significatum quod tunc nullus amor seu nulla fides amplius, Matth. xxvii , Marc. xv 33; Luc. xxiii 44, 45.