9828.“腰带”表一个共同的纽带，好叫一切事物都关注同一个目的。这从“腰带”或带子的含义清楚可知。“腰带”或带子是指一个共同的纽带，因为它将一切内层事物都聚集在自己里面，包裹它们，并将它们保持在关联中；没有它，这些内层事物就会松散并分崩离析。“腰带”或带子之所以表示旨在让一切事物都能关注同一个目的的一个共同纽带，是因为在灵界掌权的，是目的，以致那里的一切事物都可称作“目的”。因为主的国作为一个属灵的世界，是一个功用或有用服务的国度，那里的功用或服务就是所关注的目的；因此，它是一个目的的国度。但那里的目的以各种次序彼此跟随，也关联在一起。彼此跟随的目的被称为“居间目的”，但关联在一起的目的被称为“有关联的目的”。这一切目的如此紧密地联结起来并彼此从属，以致它们无一例外地关注一个目的。这个目的就是主；在天上那些接受它的人当中，它是对主的爱和信。在那里，爱是他们所有意愿的目的，或说是那里一切意愿能力所关注的目的；信则是他们所有思维的目的，或说一切思维能力所关注的目的，这些思维或思维能力都属于理解力。
当每一个事物都关注一个目的时，它们就被保持在一个连续不断的关联中，并构成一体；因为那时，一切事物都在照着从属和关联的律法而使所有人都转向祂自己，从而将他们与自己相结合的那一位的视野、掌管和眷顾之下。同时，祂还使所有人都脸朝他们的同伴，由此将他们彼此联结起来。这解释了为何在天堂，所有人的脸都转向主，主是那里的太阳，因而是所有人眼前的中心点；神奇的是，无论天使转向哪个方向，主都在那里（参看3638节）。由于主存在于相爱的良善里面和对邻之仁的良善里面（因为祂爱所有人，并通过爱将所有人联结起来），故天使也通过出于这爱关注他们的同伴而转向主。
因此，带子代表那些在最后和最低层，将其它事物聚集起来，并如此包裹它们，好叫每一个和一切事物都能被保持在这种关联之中的事物；在灵界，这些事物无非是存在于最低或最外层中并包裹内层事物的良善和真理。腰带代表属天良善，环绕大腿和胸部的带子代表最低或最外层中的属灵良善和真理。
在下列经文中，“腰带或带子”表示这类事物：
耶和华对先知说，你去买一根麻布带子束腰，不可放在水中。我就买了一根带子束腰。耶和华的话临到我说，拿着带子，往伯拉河去，将它藏在那里的岩石缝中。过了多日，我就往伯拉河去把带子取出来，看哪，它已经坏了，毫无用处了。耶和华说，这恶民不肯听我的话，随从别神。他们也必像这带子变为无用。（耶利米书13:1-10）
此处“细麻布带子”在灵义上表示教会的良善，这良善在自己里面将真理包裹并保持在关联之中。由于那时教会的良善不复存在，真理随之被驱散，故经上说它“不可放在水中”；因为“水”表示洁净、因而恢复的真理。藏带子的“岩石缝”是指被歪曲的真理；“伯拉河”是指在其最低层的良善的属天事物的全部范围和边界。人若不知道圣言的性质可能以为，这只不过是把这人民及其毁灭与带子及其毁灭进行比较。但在圣言中，一切比较和比喻的说法都是真实的对应（3579，8989节）。除非这段经文中的一切细节都具有对应的性质，否则先知永远不会被吩咐不可将带子放在水中，要束在腰上，或往伯拉河去，将它藏在那里的岩石缝中。经上之所以说带子要“束腰”，是因为由于对应，“腰”表示属天之爱的良善（3021，4280，5050-5062节）。束腰的带子因此表示凭作为媒介的圣言通过爱之良善与主结合。
“带子”是指充当边界并将事物联结起来的良善，这一点也明显可见于以赛亚书：
从耶西的树干必生出一个嫩枝。公义必当祂的腰带，真理必当祂大腿的带子。（以赛亚书11:1，5）
这论及主；“必当腰带的公义”是指祂的爱之良善，这良善保护天堂和教会。当以色列人吃逾越节的羔羊时，“当腰间束带”（出埃及记12:11），这个要求就表示一切事物都要存在于其适当次序中，预备从主接受良善并付诸行动（7863节）。这解释了为何经上说那些做好预备的人“腰间束带”，这也论及启示录中的七位天使：
那掌管七灾的七位天使，从殿中出来，穿着洁白光明的细麻衣，胸间束着金带。（启示录15:6）
经上论到以利亚：
他是一个多毛的人，腰束皮带。（列王记下1:8）
论到约翰的话也差不多一样：
这约翰身穿骆驼毛的衣服，腰束皮带。（马太福音3:4）
以利亚和约翰之所以如此穿衣、束腰，是因为他们两人都代表圣言；因此，他们的衣服表示外在意义，就是属世意义上的圣言；因为“毛”表示属世层（3301，5247，5569-5573节），“骆驼”表示属世层里面的一般记忆知识（3048，3071，3143，3145节）。“皮”或“皮肤”表示外在之物（3540节），因此，“皮带”表示那在自己里面将内层事物聚集起来，把它们包裹并保持在关联中的。以利亚代表圣言（参看创世记18章序言，2762，5247e节），施洗约翰同样代表圣言（9372节）。
由于真理和良善被恶行解除和驱散，故约押以诡诈杀了押尼珥之后，经上论到约押说“他将争战的血染了腰间束的带”（列王记上2:5），以此表示他驱散并摧毁了这些真理和良善。因此，当真理被驱散和摧毁时，经上说“分裂代替腰带，光秃代替整齐的头发”（以赛亚书3:24）。这论及锡安的女子，她表示属于属天教会的良善；“分裂代替腰带”表示对属天良善的驱散。
在以西结书中，这话也论及阿荷利巴，就是耶路撒冷：
因她看见人像画在墙上，就是用丹色所画迦勒底人的像，腰间系着带子，她就贪恋他们。（以西结书23:14-16）
以此表示被亵渎的真理；因为“迦勒底人”是指那些表面声称相信真理，内心却否认它们，从而亵渎它们的人；“画在墙上的人像”是指外在事物中的真理的表象，“丹色所画的像”也是；“腰间所系的带子”是指他们为引诱人们相信他们的真理所伪装的良善。
由此可见在代表性教会，那将衣服收拢为一的“带子”表示什么。然而，属世人很难被几乎无法被引导相信所表示的是这类事物，因为他很难抛开对带子和一般对衣服的属世观念，而去采纳属灵观念，就是对在自己里面将真理保持在关联中的良善的观念。因为出现在眼前的属世事物将心智锁定在它自己身上，心智不会从那里被移走，除非理解力的视觉能被提升至天堂之光，此人因此能几乎从属世事物中抽象出来思考。当这种情况发生在一个人身上时，纯属世人所无法理解的关于信之真理和爱之良善的属灵观念就会进入。
Potts(1905-1910) 9828
9828. And a belt. That this signifies a general bond in order that all things may look to one end, is evident from the signification of a "belt," or "girdle," as being a general bond; for it gathers up, encloses, holds in connection, and secures all the interior things, which without it would be set loose, and would be scattered. That "the belt" denotes a general bond to the intent that all things may look to one end, is because in the spiritual world the end reigns, insomuch that all things there may be called "ends;" for the Lord's kingdom, which is a spiritual world, is a kingdom of uses, and uses there are ends; thus it is a kingdom of ends. But the ends there follow one another and are also associated together in a varied order; the ends which follow one another being called "intermediate ends," but the ends which are associated together being called "consociate ends." All these ends have been so mutually conjoined and subordinated that they look to one end, which is the universal end of them all. This end is the Lord; and in heaven with those who are receptive, it is love and faith in Him. Love is there the end of all their wills, and faith is the end of all their thoughts, these being of the understanding. [2] When each and all things look to one end, they are then kept in an unbroken connection, and make a one; for they are under the view, the government, and the providence of One who bends all to Himself in accordance with the laws of subordination and consociation, and thus conjoins them with Himself; and also at the same time bends them to their companions in a reciprocal manner, and in this way conjoins them with each other. From this it is that the faces of all in heaven are kept turned to the Lord, who is the Sun there, and is thus the center to which all look; and this, wonderful to say, in whatever direction the angels may turn (see n. 3638). And as the Lord is in the good of mutual love, and in the good of charity toward the neighbor-for He loves all, and through love conjoins all-therefore the angels are also turned to the Lord by regarding their companions from this love. [3] For this reason those things which are in ultimates, and which gather up and enclose, in order that each and all things may be kept together in such a connection, were represented by belts or girdles; which in the spiritual world are nothing else than goods and truths in the ultimates, or in the extremes, and which enclose the interior things. By the girdles around the loins were represented celestial goods, and by the girdles around the thighs, and also around the breast, were represented spiritual goods and truths in the ultimates or extremes. [4] Such things are signified by "the girdles of the loins" in the following passage:
Jehovah said unto the prophet, Buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins; but thou shalt not draw it through water. So I bought a girdle, and put it upon my loins. Then the word of Jehovah was made unto me, saying, Take the girdle, and go to Euphrates, and hide it in a hole of the rock. At the end of many days I went to Euphrates, and took again the girdle, and behold it was corrupt, it was profitable for nothing. Then said Jehovah, This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, and are gone after other gods, shall be even as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing (Jer. 13:1-10). In the spiritual sense by "the linen girdle" is here meant the good of the church, which encloses and holds together in connection the truths in it. Because the good of the church was at that time non-existent, and the truths were consequently dispersed, it is said that it should "not be drawn through water;" for "water" denotes the truth which purifies and thus restores. "The hole of the rock in which the girdle was hid" denotes truth falsified; "the Euphrates" denotes the extension and boundary of the celestial things of good in their ultimate. He who does not know the nature of the Word, may suppose that this is only a comparison of the people and their corruption with the girdle and its corruption; but in the Word all comparisons and metaphorical sayings are real correspondences (n. 3579, 8989). Unless everything in this passage had a correspondence, it would never have been commanded that the girdle should not be drawn through water, that it should be put upon the loins, and that the prophet should go to the Euphrates, and should hide it there in a hole of the rock. It is said that the girdle should be "put upon the loins," because from correspondence "the loins" signify the good of celestial love (n. 3021, 4280, 5050-5062); thus the placing of the girdle upon the loins denotes conjunction with the Lord through the good of love by the mediation of the Word. [5] That a "girdle" denotes good bounding and conjoining is plain also in Isaiah:
There shall go forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse; righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs (Isa. 11:1, 5);
this is said of the Lord; "the righteousness that shall be the girdle of the loins" denotes the good of His love which protects heaven and the church. It is said of the sons of Israel that when they ate the passover, "their loins were to be girded" (Exod. 12:11); which signifies that thus all things were in order, and prepared to receive good from the Lord, and were ready for action (n. 7863). It is from this that those who are ready are said to be "girded," as is said also of the seven angels in Revelation:
There went forth from the temple the seven angels that had the seven plagues, clothed in linen white and shining, and girt about the breast with golden girdles (Rev. 15:6). [6] It is said of Elijah:
He was a hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins (2 Kings 1:8);
and in like manner of John:
John had clothing of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins (Matt. 3:4). Elijah and John were so clothed and girded because they both represented the Word; and therefore their garments denote the Word in the external sense which is natural; for "the hair" denotes the natural (n. 3301, 5247, 5569-5573). "Camels" denote general memory-knowledges in the natural (n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145); "leather" and "skin" signify what is external (n. 3540); thus a "leathern girdle" signifies that which gathers up, encloses, and holds together in connection, the interior things. (That Elijah represented the Word, see the preface to Genesis 18, and n. 2762, 5247; and in like manner John the Baptist, n. 9372.) [7] As truths and goods are set loose and are dispersed by evil deeds, it is said of Joab after he had slain Abner with deceit, that "he put the bloods of war in his girdle that was on his loins" (1 Kings 2:5), by which is signified that he had dispersed and destroyed these things; and therefore when truths have been dispersed and destroyed, it is said that "instead of a girdle there shall be a rent, and instead of a work of entwining, baldness" (Isa. 3:24); speaking of the daughters of Zion, by whom are signified the goods that belong to the celestial church; "a rent instead of a girdle" denotes the dispersion of celestial good. [8] It is also said of Oholibah, which is Jerusalem, in Ezekiel:
When she saw men portrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with girdles on their loins, she doted upon them (Ezek. 23:14-16);
by which are signified truths profaned; for "the Chaldeans" denote those who profess truths outwardly, but inwardly deny them, and thus profane them; "men portrayed upon the wall" denote appearances of truth in outward things; and in like manner "images portrayed with vermilion;" "the girdles with which they were girt on the loins" denote the goods which they feign in order that their truths may be believed. [9] From all this it can now be seen what was signified in the representative church by the "girdles," which gather together the garments into one. But that such things were signified can with difficulty be brought to the belief of the natural man, for the reason that he can with difficulty cast away the natural idea about girdles, and about garments in general; and in its place take to himself the spiritual idea, which is that of good holding truths together in connection; for the natural thing, which appears before the sight, keeps the mind fixed on itself, and is not removed unless the intellectual sight can be raised even into the light of heaven, and the man thus be able to think almost abstractedly from natural things. When this is done, there enter the spiritual things of the truth of faith and the good of love, which are imperceptible to the merely natural man.
Elliott(1983-1999) 9828
9828. 'And a belt' means a common bond to ensure that everything has the same end in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'a belt' or girdle as a common bond; for it gathers together, encloses, holds in connection within itself, and strengthens everything within, which without it would fall apart and drift away. The reason why it is a common bond whose purpose is to ensure that everything has the same end in view is that in the spiritual world the end in view holds sway, so much so that everything there should be called an end. For the Lord's kingdom, which is a spiritual world, is a kingdom of useful services, and such services there are ends in view, so that it is a kingdom of ends. But the ends there follow one another in various order, and they also stand in association with one another. The ends which follow one another are called middle ends, but those which stand in association with one another are called associate ends. All these ends have been so linked together and made subordinate to one another that without exception they have one end in view. This end is the Lord; and in heaven, among those who accept it, it is a love of and faith in Him. Love there is the end in view of all the powers of the will there, and faith is the end in view of all the powers of thought, which are those of the understanding.
[2] When every single thing has the same end in view all things are then held in uninterrupted connection and make one; for everything is then under the eye, government, and providence of the One who, acting in accord with the laws of subordination and association, turns everyone towards Himself, and thereby joins them to Himself. At the same time He turns all to face their companions, and thereby joins them to one another. This explains why the faces of all who are in heaven are kept turned towards the Lord, who is the Sun there, and so is the centre point in front of everyone's eyes; and the marvel is that He is there in whatever direction angels turn round to face, 3638. And since the Lord is present within the good of mutual love and within the good of charity towards the neighbour - for all are loved by Him, and are joined to one another by Him through love - their regard for their companions, which that love gives them, also serves to turn them towards the Lord.
[3] Those things therefore on last and lowest levels, gathering others together and enclosing them so they may be held, every single one, in such connection, were represented by belts or girdles, which in the spiritual world are nothing other than the forms of good and the truths present on lowest or outermost levels which enclose more internal ones. Celestial forms of good on lowest or outermost levels were represented by girdles that went around the loins, and spiritual forms of good and truths on those levels by girdles that went around the thighs and also around the breast.
[4] Such things are meant by 'girdles around the loins' in the following places: In Jeremiah,
Jehovah said to the prophet, Buy yourself a linen girdle, and place it over your loins; but you are not to pass it through water. I therefore bought a girdle, and placed it over my loins. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Take the girdle, and go away to the Euphrates, and hide it in the cleft of a rock. At the end of many days I went away to the Euphrates, and took the girdle, and behold, it was ruined; it was profitable for nothing. Then Jehovah said, This people is evil, refusing to hear My words; and they have gone after other gods. Therefore they will be just like this girdle that is profitable for nothing. Jer 13:1-12.
'A linen girdle' here is used to mean in the spiritual sense the Church's good, which encloses the truths there and holds them in connection within itself. The non-existence of the Church's good at that time, and the consequent dispersal of its truths, are the reason for its being said that the girdle was not to be passed through water; for 'water' means truth that purifies and thereby restores. 'The cleft of a rock' in which it was hidden is falsified truth; 'the Euphrates' is the full extent and boundary of the celestial realities that belong to good on its lowest level. Anyone unacquainted with the essential nature of the Word may think that the passage is no more than a comparison of the people and their ruination with a girdle and its ruination. But in the Word all comparisons and metaphorical ways of speaking are real correspondences, 3579, 8989. Unless each detail in this description were of a correspondential nature the prophet would never have been told not to pass the girdle through water, or to place it over his loins, or to go to the Euphrates and hide it there in the cleft of a rock. The reason why it says that the girdle should be placed over his loins is that by 'the loins', because of their correspondence, is meant the good of celestial love, 3021, 4280, 5050-5062. A girdle placed over the loins accordingly means being joined to the Lord through the good of love, the Word serving as the intermediary.
[5] The meaning of 'a girdle' as good that acts as a boundary and holds things together is also evident in Isaiah,
There will come forth a shoot from the trunk of Jesse. Righteousness will be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs. Isa 11:1, 5.
This refers to the Lord. 'Righteousness' that will be 'the girdle of His loins' is the good of His love, which protects heaven and the Church. The requirement stated in Exod 12:11 that when the children of Israel ate the Passover their loins were to be girded means that all things should be present in their proper order, made ready to receive good from the Lord and to take action, 7863. This explains why those who have been made ready are said to be 'girded', as is also said of the seven angels in the Book of Revelation,
Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in linen, white and splendid, and girded around their breasts with golden girdles. Rev 15:6.
[6] It is said of Elijah in 2 Kings 1:8 that he was a hairy man and wore a girdle of skin around his loins. Much the same is said of John,
John had a garment of camel hair and a skin girdle around his waist. Matt. 3:4.
The reason why Elijah and John were clothed and girded in this way was that both men represented the Word, and therefore their clothes mean the Word in its external sense, which is the natural sense. For 'hair' means the natural, 3301, 5247, 5569-5573, and 'camels' general facts within the natural, 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. And 'skin' means the external, 3540, so that 'a girdle of skin' means that which collects together, encloses, and holds in connection the things within itself. For the representation of Elijah as the Word, see Preface to Genesis 18, and 2762, 5247 (end), and John the Baptist similarly, 9372.
[7] Since truths and forms of good are dissolved and dispersed by wicked deeds it says of Joab that after he had tricked and killed Abner he put the blood of war on his girdle that was on his loins, 1 Kings 2:5. This means that he dispersed and destroyed such truths and forms of good. This accounts for its being said, when truths have been dispersed and destroyed, that instead of a girdle there will be a falling apart, and instead of well-set hair, baldness, Isa. 3:24. This refers to the daughters of Zion, by whom forms of good belonging to the celestial Church are meant. 'Instead of a girdle, a falling apart' stands for the dispersal of celestial good.
[8] It is also said in Ezekiel of Oholibah, who is Jerusalem, that when she looked at men portrayed on the wall, images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, girded with girdles on their loins, she fell in love with them, Ezek. 23:14-16. Here truths which have been rendered profane are meant, for 'the Chaldeans' are those who outwardly claim to believe in truths but inwardly repudiate them, and in so doing render them profane. 'Men portrayed on the wall' are the appearances of truth in outward things, as in like manner are 'images portrayed in vermilion'. 'Girdles' with which their loins were girded are the forms of good which they fake to induce belief in their truths.
[9] From all this it may now be clear what it was that girdles gathering garments into one served to mean in the representative Church. Yet the natural man can scarcely be brought to believe that such things were meant, because he finds it difficult to put aside the natural idea of a girdle, and in general of garments, and instead adopt a spiritual idea, which is that of good holding truths in connection within itself. For the natural level on which a person sees things holds the mind down on that level, and it is not removed from there unless the sight of the understanding is able to be raised right up into the light of heaven and the person is for this reason able to think on a level virtually divorced from natural things. When this happens to a person spiritual ideas of the truth of faith and of the good of love, which the merely natural man cannot understand, enter in.
Latin(1748-1756) 9828
9828. `Et {1}balteum': quod significet commune vinculum, ut omnia ad unum finem spectent, constat ex significatione `baltei' seu cinguli, quod sit commune vinculum, colligit enim, concludit, in nexu continet, et firmat omnia interiora, quae absque illo solverentur et diffluerent; quod commune vinculum sit ob causam ut omnia ad unum finem spectent, est quia in mundo spirituali regnat finis, usque adeo ut omnia quae ibi (x)dicenda sint fines; est enim regnum Domini, quod est mundus spiritualis, regnum usuum, {2}et usus ibi sunt fines, ita est regnum finium; sed fines ibi in vario ordine sibi succedunt, et quoque consociantur; fines qui succedunt vocantur fines medii, at fines qui consociantur vocantur fines consocii; omnes illi fines ita conjuncti sunt mutuo et subordinati ut spectent unum finem, qui omnium universalis est; ille finis est Dominus, et in caelo apud recipientes amor et fides in Ipsum; amor ibi est finis omnium voluntatum ibi, et fides est finis omnium cogitationum, quae sunt intellectus; cum omnia et 2 singula spectant unum finem, tunc in nexu indivulso tenentur, et faciunt unum, nam {3} sunt sub aspectu, regimine, et providentia Unius Qui omnes secundum leges subordinationis et consociationis flectit ad Se, et sic conjungit Sibi, {4}simul etiam tunc ad socios mutuo, et sic conjungit illos invicem; inde est quod facies omnium in caelo teneantur versi ad Dominum, Qui ibi est Sol, et sic centrum omnium aspectuum; et quod mirabile, utcumque se (t)angeli vertunt, n. 3638; et quia Dominus in bono amoris mutui {5}est, inque bono charitatis erga proximum, amat enim omnes, et per amorem conjungit omnes, ideo quoque ad Dominum vertuntur per spectare socios ex illo amore. Illa itaque quae in ultimis sunt, et colligunt et concludunt ut 3 omnia et singula in tali nexu contineantur, repraesentata sunt per balteos seu per cingula, quae non alia sunt in mundo spirituali quam bona et vera in ultimis seu extremis, quae interiora {6}concludunt, per cingula lumborum bona caelestia, et per cingula feminum, tum pectoris, bona et vera spiritualia in ultimis seu {7} extremis; talia per 'cingula lumborum' significantur in sequentibus his locis: apud Jeremiam, Jehovah dixit ad prophetam, Eme tibi cingulum lini, et pone id super lumbos tuos, sed per aquam non duces illud; emi itaque cingulum, ac posui super lumbos meos; tunc factum est verbum Jehovae ad me, dicendo, Sume cingulum, et abi ad Euphratem, et absconde illud in foramine petrae. A fine dierum multorum abivi ad Euphratem, et (x)recepi cingulum, et ecce corruptum erat, non proderat ad quicquam: tunc dixit Jehovah, Populus hic malus renuentes audire verba Mea, et iverunt post deos alios; ideo erit sicut cingulum hoc quod non prodest ad quicquam, xiii 1-12;4 per `cingulum lini' {8}ibi in sensu spirituali intelligitur bonum Ecclesiae, quod concludit et in nexu continet vera ibi; quia bonum Ecclesiae tunc nullum fuit, et inde vera dissipata, ideo dicitur quod non duceretur per aquam, aqua enim est verum purificans et sic restituens; `foramen petrae in quo absconditum' est verum falsificatum, `Euphrates' est extensio et terminus caelestium, quae sunt boni in suo ultimo; qui non scit quale est Verbum, opinari potest quod modo (t)sit comparatio populi et ejus corruptionis cum cingulo et ejus corruptione; sed in Verbo omnes comparationes et locutiones metaphoricae sunt reales correspondentiae, n. 3579, 8989; nisi singula ibi {9}corresponderent, nequaquam mandatum fuisset quod cingulum non duceretur per aquam, quod poneretur super lumbos, quod propheta iret ad Euphratem, et ibi absconderet illud in foramine petrae; dicitur quod cingulum poneretur super lumbos, quia `lumbi' ex correspondentia significant bonum amoris caelestis, n. 3021, 4280, 5050-5062, (m)ita positio cinguli super lumbos est conjunctio cum Domino per bonum amoris mediante Verbo.(n) 5 {10}Quod `cingulum' sit bonum terminans et conjungens, {11}patet quoque apud Esaiam, Exibit virga de trunco Jischaii, erit justitia cingulum lumborum Ipsius, et veritas cingulum feminum Ipsius, xi [1,] 5;
ibi de Domino; 'justitia quae cingulum lumborum' est bonum amoris Ipsius, quod caelum et Ecclesiam tutatur. Dicitur de filiis Israelis cum comederent Pascha, quod essent cincti lumbis, Exod. xii 11, quod significat quod sic omnia in ordine, et parata ad recipiendum bonum a Domino, et ad agendum, {12} n. (x)7863; inde est quod dicantur accincti qui parati, sicut etiam de septem angelis in Apocalypsi, Exiverunt septem angeli habentes septem plagas {13}e templo, induti linteo albo et splendido, et circumcincti circa pectora cingulis aureis, xv 6:
de Elia dicitur quod esset vir pilosus, et cingulo corii cinctus circa lumbos 6 suos, 2 Reg. i 8: similiter de Johanne, Johannes habebat indumentum ex pilis cameli, et cingulum coriaceum circa lumbum suum, Matth. iii 4;
quod Elias et Johannes ita vestiti et cincti {14}fuerint, erat causa quia uterque repraesentabat Verbum, {15}inde vestes eorum {16}sunt Verbum in sensu externo, qui naturalis, `pili' enim sunt naturale, n. 3301, 5247, 5569-5573, {17}'cameli' sunt scientifica communia in naturali{18}, n. 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145, `corium' et `pellis' significant externum, n. 3540, ita `cingulum coriaceum' id quod colligit, concludit, et in nexu continet interiora; {19} quod Elias repraesentaverit Verbum, videatur Praefatio ad Gen. xviii, et n. 2762, 5247 fin., similiter Johannes Baptista, n. 9372. Quia {20} vera et bona solvuntur et dissipantur per malefacta, ideo de 7 Joabo cum dolo occiderat Abnerum, dicitur quod dederit sanguines belli in cingulo suo quod in lumbis, 1 Reg. ii (x)5, {21}per quae significatur quod dissipaverit et destruxerit illa; quare cum dissipata et destructa vera sunt, dicitur {22} quod loco cinguli erit discissio, et loco operis implexi calvities, Esai. iii 24; ibi de filiabus Zionis, per quas significantur bona quae {23} Ecclesiae caelestis; `loco cinguli discissio' pro dissipatione boni caelestis. Dicitur etiam de Oholiba, quae est Hierosolyma, apud Ezechielem, 8 quod cum vidisset viros pictos super pariete, imagines Chaldaeorum pictas minio, cinctos cingulis in lumbis suis, adamaverit eos, xxiii 14, 15, per quae significantur vera profanata, `Chaldaei' enim sunt qui in externis profitentur vera, sed in internis illa negant, ita profanant; `viri picti {24}super pariete' sunt {25}apparentiae veri in externis, similiter imagines pictae minio'; `cingula quibus cincti in lumbis' sunt bona quae fingunt {26}ut inde vera credantur. Ex his nunc constare potest quid cingula, quae in unum colligabant vestes, in Ecclesia repraesentativa significabant; sed quod talia significaverint, naturalis homo aegre (t)potest adduci ad credendum, ex causa quia aegre potest naturalem ideam de cingulis, et in genere de vestibus rejicere, et loco ejus assumere ideam spiritualem, quae es boni continentis vera in nexu; naturale enim, quod apparet coram visu tenet mentem fixam in se, et non removetur nisi visus intellectuali usque in lucem caeli elevari possit, et homo sic paene abstracte naturalibus cogitare, quod cum fit, spiritualia quae {27}veri fidei et boni amoris, (m)(x)imperceptibilia mere naturali homini, intrant.(n) @1 baltheus IT$ @2 qui$ @3 i tunc$ @4 et simul$ @5 After Dominus$ @6 includunt$ @7 i in$ @8 hic$ @9 correspondissent$ @10 ita cingulum lumborum significant$ @11 ut$ @12 i tenerentur$ @13 a I$ @14 fuissent$ @15 ita$ @16 est$ @17 camelus$ @18 i homine$ @19 i talis enim est sensus verbi externus, qui literalis vocatur,$ @20 i omnia$ @21 ita quod destruxerit illa et dissipaverit$ @22 i apud Esajam,$ @23 i sunt$ @24 in IT$ @25 vera apparentia ut vera$ @26 in externis et$ @27 sunt boni et veri$