468、从前一章的阐述和说明清楚可知，名字表示异端和教义。由此可见，本章中的名字不是指人，而是指事物，在此是指教义或教会，它们虽历经变化，却仍从上古教会时代一直被保存到“挪亚”时代。但每个教会都是这种情况：随着时间推移，它逐渐萎缩，最终只存留在少数人中间。在大洪水时期，保留教会的这少数人被称为“挪亚”。
真教会逐渐萎缩，最终只存留在少数人中间，这一事实从如此萎缩的其它教会明显看出来。在圣言中，剩下的这些人被称为“余民”和“余剩”，被说成是“在地中间，或地中”。适用于总体的，也适用于具体；也就是说，适用于教会的，也适用于个人。如果主不将余剩保存在每个人里面，人必在永死中灭亡，因为这些余剩包含属灵和属天的生命。这同样适用于总体或普遍之物；若不是总有一些人保留教会或真信，人类必灭亡。因为众所周知，一座城，甚至整个国家会因少数人的缘故而得以保存。在这方面，教会就像人体；只要心脏健康，周围的器官就能继续存活。但当它衰弱时，身体的其它部位就不再得到供养，从而变坏，人就会死亡。“挪亚”就表示最后的余剩，因为“全地都败坏了”，这从创世记（6:12）和其它地方清楚看出来。
先知书大量论述了存在于个人或教会里面的“余剩（泽注：remnants，经上或译余民，剩下，留下等等）”，如以赛亚书：
主将锡安女儿的污秽洗去，又将耶路撒冷的血涮净，那时，剩在锡安的和留在耶路撒冷的，就是一切住耶路撒冷、记在生命册上的，必归祂称为圣。（以赛亚书4:3-4）
此处“圣”被归于余剩，这表示教会的余剩，也表示教会成员的余剩；因为“剩在锡安的”和“留在耶路撒冷的”不可能仅仅因为留在那里而被称为圣。又：
到那日，以色列所剩下的，和雅各家所逃脱的，不再倚靠那击打他们的，却要诚实倚靠耶和华以色列的圣者。所剩下的，就是雅各所剩下的，必归回大能的神。（以赛亚书10:20-21）
耶利米书：
到那些日子，那时候，虽寻以色列的罪孽，却一无所有；虽寻犹大的罪，也无所见；因我所留下的人，我必赦免。（耶利米书50:20）
弥迦书：
雅各余剩的人必在多民中间，如从耶和华那里降下的露水，又如甘霖降在草上。（弥迦书5:7）
剩下的，或留下的（即余剩），无论是个人的还是教会的，也由神圣的“十分之一”来代表。因此，凡涉及“十”的数字也都是神圣的，故“十”论及剩下的事物；如以赛亚书：
耶和华将人迁到远方，在这陆地中间有许多撇弃的地方；那里剩下的将有十分之一，它必归回；然而，它定被根除，像一棵栗树、橡树，那时，他们将树墩子抛弃。圣洁的种子就是它的树墩子。（以赛亚书6:12-13）
此处，剩下的被称为“圣洁的树墩子或种子”。阿摩司书：
主耶和华如此说，这城发出一千，必只剩下一百；发出一百，必只剩下十个，给以色列家。（阿摩司书5:3）
在这些和其它许多经文中，内义就表示“余剩”，也就是此处所论述的主题。城为教会余民的缘故而得以保存，这一事实从向亚伯拉罕所说关于所多玛的话明显看出来：
亚伯拉罕说，假如在那里找到十个呢？祂说，为这十个的缘故，我也不毁灭那城。（创世记18:32）
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]468. Inner Meaning
WHAT was stated and demonstrated in the last chapter shows that names symbolize heresies and doctrines,{*1} and this in turn suggests that the names in the present chapter stand not for individuals but for some larger entity. Here they symbolize the doctrines — the churches — that were preserved (despite undergoing changes) from the time of the earliest church up to Noah.
A church tends to dwindle over time, however, until at last it remains with only a few. The few among whom it remained at the time of the Flood were called Noah.
[2] The waning of the true church until it remains with a few can be seen from other churches that likewise shrank. The remaining few are called "survivors" or "a remnant" in the Word, where they are described as being in the middle or heart of the land.{*2} The situation is the same in general as it is in particular; in other words, what holds true for the church holds true for individual people. Unless the Lord preserved a remnant in each of us, we could only succumb to eternal death, because the remnant holds spiritual and heavenly life within it.{*3} Likewise at the general or universal level, unless there were always some with whom the church or true faith survived, the human race would come to an end. For the sake of a handful, we know, the city and in fact the whole nation is preserved.{*4} This is mirrored in the human heart. As long as the heart is healthy, the surrounding organs thrive. When it ails, all the organs deteriorate and the person dies.
The last survivors, [or remnants,] are what Noah symbolizes, since aside from him the whole earth was corrupt, as Genesis 6:12 makes clear.
[3] Remaining traces in each individual and in the church are discussed by the prophets in many places, as in Isaiah:
The one left in Zion and the one remaining in Jerusalem will be called holy to him — everyone in Jerusalem assigned to life — when the Lord has cleansed the filth of Zion's daughters and washed away the blood of Jerusalem from its midst. (Isaiah 4:3-4)
What is left — symbolizing the survivors of the church and the remnant in the people of the church — is here described as being holy. After all, those left in Zion and Jerusalem could not have been holy just because they were left there. Likewise in the same author:
It will be in that day that the survivors of Israel and the refugees of Jacob's house will no longer continue to lean on the one that strikes them; and it will lean on Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truthfulness. The survivors will return, the survivors of Jacob, to the mighty God. (Isaiah 10:20-21, 22)
In Jeremiah:
In those days and at that time there will be a search for Israel's wickedness, but it will not be there, and for Judah's sins, and they will not be found, because I will pardon the one whom I make a remainder. (Jeremiah 50:20)
In Micah:
The survivors of Jacob in the midst of many peoples will be like dew from Jehovah, like showers on the grass. (Micah 5:7)
[4] The remainder or remnant in a person or in the church was also represented by tithes, or portions equaling one tenth, which were holy. As a result, the number ten was also holy, and this is why ten is associated with remnants, as it is in Isaiah:
Jehovah will take humankind away, but a great [portion] will be left in the middle of the land. And a tenth will remain there and return but is destined for expulsion, like an oak or a holm oak when its stump is cast out. Its stump is holy seed. (Isaiah 6:12-13)
Here the remainder is called a holy stump. In Amos:
This is what the Lord Jehovih has said: "The city going out as a thousand will leave one hundred remaining, and the one going out as a hundred will leave ten remaining to the house of Israel." (Amos 5:3)
These places and many others in their inner meaning symbolize and describe a remnant. The fact that a city is preserved for the sake of the church's survivors can be seen from what Abraham said of Sodom:
Abraham said, "Perhaps ten may be found there." And [Jehovah] said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten." (Genesis 18:32)
Footnotes:
{*1} On names that stand for heresies and doctrines, see, for example, 324-325, 331-336. [LHC]
{*2} Isaiah 7:22 actually mentions survivors in the middle of the land; Isaiah 5:8; 6:12, and 24:13 imply the idea. [LHC]
{*3} The subject of the remnant in the individual is introduced in 19. [LHC]
{*4} See the quotation of Genesis 18:32 at the end of 468. [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 468
468. THE INTERNAL SENSE. From what has been said and shown in the foregoing chapter, it is evident that by names are signified heresies and doctrines. Hence it may be seen that by the names in this chapter are not meant persons, but things, and in the present instance doctrines, or churches, which were preserved, notwithstanding the changes they underwent, from the time of the Most Ancient Church even to "Noah." But the case with every church is that in course of time it decreases, and at last remains among a few; and the few with whom it remained at the time of the flood were called "Noah." [2] That the true church decreases and remains with but few, is evident from other churches which have thus decreased. Those who are left are in the Word called "remains" and a "remnant" and are said to be "in the midst" or "middle" "of the land." And as this is the case in the universal, so also it is in the particular, or as it is with the church, so it is with every individual man; for unless remains were preserved by the Lord in everyone, he must needs perish eternally, since spiritual and celestial life are in the remains. So also in the general or universal-if there were not always some with whom the church, or true faith, remained, the human race would perish; for, as is generally known, a city, nay, sometimes a whole kingdom, is saved for the sake of a few. It is in this respect with the church as it is with the human body; so long as the heart is sound, life is possible for the neighboring viscera, but when the heart is enfeebled, the other parts of the body cease to be nourished, and the man dies. The last remains are those which are signified by "Noah;" for (as appears from Gen. 6:12, as well as from other places) the whole earth had become corrupt. [3] Of remains as existing in each individual as well as in the church in general, much is said in the Prophets; as in Isaiah:
He that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy to Him, even everyone that is written unto lives in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have washed away the bloods of Jerusalem from the midst thereof (Isa. 4:3-4), in which passage holiness is predicated of the remains, by which are signified the remains of the church, and also of a man of the church; for "those left" in Zion and Jerusalem could not be holy merely because they were "left." Again:
It shall come to pass in that day, that the remains of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them, but shall stay upon Jehovah the Holy One of Israel in truth. The remains shall return, the remains of Jacob, unto the mighty God (Isa. 10:20-21). In Jeremiah:
In those days, and in that time, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon him whom I shall make a remnant (Jer. 50:20). In Micah:
The remains of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as the dew from Jehovah, as the showers upon the grass (Micah 5:7).[4] The residue or remains of a man, or of the church, were also represented by the tenths, which were holy; hence also a number with ten in it was holy, and "ten" is therefore predicated of remains; as in Isaiah:
Jehovah shall remove man, and many things [shall be] left in the midst of the land; and yet in it [shall be] a tenth part, and it shall return, and shall be for exterminating; as an oak, and an ilex, when the stock is cast forth from them, the holy seed is the stock thereof (Isa. 6:12-13);
where the residue is called a "seed of holiness." And in Amos:
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, The city that goeth forth a thousand shall have a hundred left, and that which goeth forth a hundred shall have ten left to the house of Israel (Amos 5:3). In these and many other passages, in the internal sense are signified the "remains" of which we have been speaking. That a city is preserved for the sake of the remains of the church, is evident from what was said to Abraham concerning Sodom:
Abraham said, Peradventure ten may be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake (Gen. 18:32).
Elliott(1983-1999) 468
468. THE INTERNAL SENSE It is clear from what was stated and shown in the previous chapter that names meant heresies and systems of doctrine. From that it becomes clear that the names in this chapter do not mean specific individuals but other things that existed. Here they mean systems of doctrine or Churches which, though they underwent certain changes, were preserved from the time of the Most Ancient Church down to that of Noah. Now it so happens that every Church in the course of time gets smaller until at length it remains among only a few people. The few with whom it remained at the time of the Flood were called Noah.
[2] The fact that the true Church gets smaller and remains among the few becomes clear from other Churches which have in a similar manner got smaller. In the Word those who remain are called 'the Remnant' and 'that which is left', and indeed people 'in the midst (or the middle) of the land'. What applies in general applies in particular also; that is, what is true of the Church is equally true of individuals. If the Lord did not preserve remnants with each individual he would inevitably perish in eternal death, for those remnants contain spiritual and celestial life. The same applies to what is general or universal; were there not always some people among whom the Church, or true faith, existed, the human race would perish. For as is well known, a city, even a whole kingdom, is preserved for the sake of a few. These factors are akin to the heart in man: as long as the heart is sound the surrounding organs can go on living. But when it is weak, deterioration sets into them all and the person dies. Final remnants are meant by Noah, for with the exception of these, as is clear from verse 12 of the next chapter, 'the whole earth was corrupt'.
[3] The remnants residing with the individual or within the Church are frequently the subject in the Prophets, as in Isaiah,
He who remains in Zion, and he who is left in Jerusalem will be called holy to Him, everyone who has been written for lifea in Jerusalem, when the Lord will have washed the filth of the daughters of Zion and washed away the bloodb of Jerusalem from its midst. Isa 4:3, 4.
Here holiness is attributed to the remnants, which mean remnants of the Church, and also of the member of the Church, for those left in Zion and in Jerusalem could not be holy people merely because they had been left there. Similarly in the same prophet,
On that day, the remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob that escaped will no more lean on him that smote them; but they will lean upon Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the God of power.
In Jeremiah,
In those days and in that time the iniquity of Israel will be sought, but there will be none, and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon him whom I shall make one that is left. Jer 50:10.
In Micah,
The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from Jehovah, like showers on the grass. Micah 5:7.
[4] That which is left, or the remnant, whether of the individual or of the Church, was also represented by tenths, which were holy. And any number involving ten was consequently holy too. Ten therefore has reference to things that are left over, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah will remove man far away, and there will be many forsaken places in the midst of the land; yet there will be a tenth part in it, and this will return; it will be a wiping out like an oak or a terebinth when the stump is cast away from them. The holy seed is its stump. Isa 6:12, 13.
Here that which is left is called 'the holy stump'. In Amos,
Thus said the Lord Jehovah, The city that goes forth a thousand will have a hundred that are left, and that which goes forth a hundred will have ten that are left to the house of Israel. Amos 9:3.In these and many other places the internal sense means remnants, also the subject here. The fact that a city is preserved for the sake of the remnant of the Church is clear from what Abraham was told concerning Sodom, Abraham said, Perhaps ten may be found there; and He said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten. Gen 18:32.
Latin(1748-1756) 468
468. SENSUS INTERNUSEx illis quae in priore capite dicta et ostensa sunt, constat quod per 'nomina' significatae sint haereses et doctrinae; inde constare potest quod per nomina in hoc capite nec significentur personae sed res, et hic doctrinae, seu Ecclesiae, quae conservatae sunt, utcumque etiam mutatae, ab antiquissima Ecclesia usque ad Noahum. Sed cum Ecclesia se ita res habet, quod temporis tractu decrescat et tandem remaneat inter paucos; pauci illi apud quos remansit tempore diluvii, vocati sunt Noah. [2] Quod decrescat vera Ecclesia et maneat apud paucos, constare potest ab aliis Ecclesiis quae similiter decreverunt; qui remanent, in Verbo vocantur 'reliquiae,' ac 'residuum,' et quidem 'in medio seu meditullio terrae': in universali se res habet sicut in particulari; seu sicut in Ecclesia, ita in singulis hominibus: nisi apud unumquemvis a Domino conservarentur reliquiae, non potuisset non perire aeterna morte, nam in reliquiis est vita spiritualis et caelestis; similiter in communi seu universali, nisi forent semper aliqui apud quos Ecclesia seu vera fides, periret genus humanum; nam propter aliquot, ut notum est, conservatur civitas, immo totum quoddam regnum. Se habent illa sicut in homine cor; quamdiu cor integrum est, circumjacentia viscera possunt vivere; at cum illud languidum, tales occupat omnia et moritur homo. Reliquiae ultimae sunt quae significantur per 'Noahum,' nam ceteroquin, ut in cap. seq. vers. 12 constat, 'tota terra corrupta erat.' [3] De reliquiis illis apud hominem quemcumque et in Ecclesia, agitur passim apud Prophetas; ut apud Esaiam, Relictus in Zione, et residuus in Hierosolyma, sanctus dicetur Ipsi, omnis scriptus ad vitas in Hierosolyma, cum laverit Dominus sordes {x}filiarum Zionis, et sanguines Hierosolymae abluerit e medio ejus, iv 3, 4;
ubi de reliquiis, per quas significantur reliquiae Ecclesiae, tum hominis Ecclesiae, praedicatur 'sanctum'; nam residui in Zione et Hierosolyma, ideo quod residui, non potuerunt sancti esse: similiter apud eundem, Erit in die illo, non addent amplius reliquiae Israelis, et evasio domus Jacobi, inniti percussori suo; et innitetur Jehovae Sancto Israelis in veritate; reliquiae revertentur; reliquiae Jacobi, ad Deum potentem, x 20-22:
apud Jeremiam, In diebus illis, et in tempore illo,... quaeretur iniquitas Israelis, sed non illa; et peccata Jehudae, et non invenientur; quia condonabo ei, quem residuum fecero, l 20:
apud Micham, Erunt reliquiae Jacobi in medio populorum multorum, sicut ros a cum Jehovah, sicut imbres super herba, v 6. [4] Residuum, seu reliquiae, hominis aut Ecclesiae, repraesentatae quoque sunt per 'decimas,' quae sanctae fuerunt; inde quoque numerus decimarius sanctus, quare de residuis praedicantur decem; ut apud Esaiam, Removebit Jehovah hominem, et multa {1} relicta in medio terrae; et adhuc in ea pars decima, et revertetur, et erit ad exterminandum, sicut quercus et ilex, quando {2} ejicitur stirps de iis, semen sanctitatis stirps ejus, vi 12, 13;
ubi residuum vocatur 'stirps sanctitatis:' apud Amosum, Sic dixit Dominus Jehovih, Urbs exiens mille, residuos faciet centum, et exiens centum, residuos faciet decem domui Israelis, v 3;
in his et pluribus locis in sensu interno significantur reliquiae de quibus: quod propter reliquias Ecclesiae conservetur civitas, constat ex illo quod dictum Abrahamo de Sodoma, Abrahamus dixit, Forte inveniantur ibi decem; et dixit, Non perdam propter decem, Gen. xviii 32. @ 1 Sch. has multiplicabitur deserta; A.V. translates 'a great forsaking'; R.V. 'The forsaken places be many.' Note that S. has relicta not reliquiae, and thus gives the correct translation of the Heb.$ @ 2 From the Heb. it seems that the clause might read quae quando ejicitur: stirps est in iis.$