----中文待译----
1133. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.- That this signifies, while they are in externals from dread of infernal punishments, is evident from the signification of standing afar off, which denotes to be in externals, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the fear of torment, which denotes dread on account of infernal punishments, for these punishments are signified by torment. To stand afar off signifies to be in externals, because a man while he is in internals is in himself, for his love dwells there, and consequently his very life. The interior things of a man are those things which belong to his spirit, and these are meant in the Word by things near at hand, therefore exteriors, being remote from interiors, are meant by things afar off, here by standing afar off. Every evil man, also, while he is in externals, is unlike what he is when in internals, for not only does he then speak and act differently, but he also wills and thinks differently, his thought and desire then being that he may appear to be a civil, moral man, and also a spiritual man, and this is either on account of the law and its punishments, or for the sake of fame, and therefore for the sake of honour and gain, thus on account of the fear of losing these. That then a man is afar off from himself, is evident from this fact, that when he returns from externals into his internals, which he does when he is left alone, he then thinks and wills altogether differently, and also when he is with companions like himself he speaks differently. It is therefore evident, that to stand afar off in the spiritual sense, signifies to be in externals.
[2] The chief reason why an evil man from internals betakes himself to, or passes into externals, is fear. When therefore he sees the punishments and torments of his companions, fear closes his internals, and when these are closed, he comes into externals, and remains in them, so long as he mentally regards the punishment. Still his internal is not amended by punishments, but remains just as before, as soon therefore as the fear of punishment passes away, he returns into his own evils, which are in him interiorly, and which belong to his spirit, and consequently to his life. This may be illustrated by experience from the spiritual world. An evil spirit there is compelled by punishments not to speak or do evil, and in this state he continues so long as he remains in the place where the punishment is present, but as soon as the fear of punishment departs, he is evil as before. The case is similar in the world. So long as thieves, robbers, and other criminals, are in a city where all are restrained by the bonds of the law and its punishments, they do not steal or rob, but immediately they come into the woods, or into places where they do not stand in fear of the punishments of the law, or when they can pervert the law by cunning devices, and avoid its punishments by such means, they come into their internals and commit crimes.
[3] It is evident from these things, that externals are separated from internals, and stand as it were afar off. It is for this reason, that in the Word "afar off" signifies the external, or what is remote from the internal, as in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
"Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done, and, ye that are near, know my power" (33:13).
Those who are afar off mean there the nations, because they are remote from internal truths, and those that are near mean those who are of the church, and in truths from the Word.
In the same:
Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth (43:6).
Here also sons and daughters mean the nations, which being remote from the truths and goods which are the internals of the church, are called sons from far, and daughters from the end of the earth. Sons mean those who are in truths, and daughters those who are in goods; the end of the earth signifies the ultimates of the church.
In the same:
"Attend, O islands, unto me, and the peoples from far. Behold they shall come to thee from far, and behold they shall come from the north and the west" (49:1, 12).
The islands, and the peoples from far, and from the north and from the west, also mean the nations, with whom the church would be established. These words in Jeremiah, "Tell to the isles afar off" (31:10), have a similar meaning.
In Zechariah:
"Those who are far off shall come, and shall build the temple of Jehovah" (6:15).
Here also those who are far off denote the nations, and the temple which they shall build is the church.
In Jeremiah:
"Am I a God at hand, and not a God far off" (23:23),
signifies that the Lord is God, to those who are within and also to those who are without the church, also to those who are in internal truths and to those who are in external truths.
In David:
"God, the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the sea of those who are far off" (Psalm 65:5).
The ends of the earth, and the sea of those who are far off, signify the ultimates of the church.
[4] In the opposite sense far off signifies evil, because this is in the external man; for all who are in evils and in falsities therefrom are external men. These are meant by nations and peoples afar off and from the end of the earth, in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
The nations "from afar, and from the end of the earth" (16).
[5] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- Because God is infinite, He is, also omnipotent, for omnipotence is infinite power. The omnipotence of God shines forth from the universe, which is the visible heaven and habitable globe, and these together with all things in the visible heaven, and upon the habitable globe are the great works of the Omnipotent Creator. Their creation and preservation testify that they are from Divine Omnipotence, while their order and their collective reference to ends, from first to last, testify that they are from Divine Wisdom. The omnipotence of God shines forth also from the heaven that is above or within our visible heaven, and from the world (ab orbe) there, which is inhabited by angels, as ours is by men. There are there stupendous evidences of the Divine Omnipotence, which, because they have been seen by me, and revealed to me, I am permitted to mention. All the men who have died from the first creation of the world are there, being after death men as to form, but spirits as to essence.
[6] Spirits are affections which are of love, and thus also, thoughts; spirits of heaven affections of the love of good, and spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. The good affections, which are angels, dwell on a world (super orbe) which is called heaven, and the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The world is one, but divided as it were into expanses, one below another. The expanses are six; in the highest dwell the angels of the third heaven, and beneath these the angels of the second heaven, and beneath these the angels of the first. Below those dwell the spirits of the first hell, beneath them the spirits of the second hell, and beneath these the spirits of the third. All things are so perfectly arranged, that the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, which are angels of heaven - the spirits of the lowest hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first heaven. By such an arrangement of opposites the affections are held in equilibrium, as in the scale of a balance.
[7] Such heavens and hells are innumerable, being distinguished into companies and societies according to the genera and species of all affections, and these latter are in order and in connexion according to their nearer and remoter affinities. The case is the same in the heavens as in the hells. This order and connexion of the affections is known to the Lord alone, and the orderly arrangement of such variety of affections - as numerous as the men who have existed from the first creation, and who shall exist hereafter - belongs to infinite wisdom, and also to infinite power. That the Divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipotent, is very evident in the other world, from this circumstance, that neither the angels of heaven nor the devils of hell have the least power from themselves; if they had the least power heaven would fall to pieces, hell would become a chaos, and every man would perish with them.
1133. Verse 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, signifies when they are in externals from a dread of infernal punishment. This is evident from the signification of "standing afar off," as meaning to be in externals (of which presently); also from the signification of "fear of torment," as being dread on account of infernal punishments, for "torment" signifies such punishments. "Standing afar off" signifies to be in externals because man is in himself when he is in internals, for there his love, and thus his very life, has its seat. The internals of man are the things that belong to his spirit, and are meant in the Word by "things near;" and therefore his externals, as being remote from internals, are meant by things "afar off," and here by "standing afar off." Moreover, every evil man when he is in externals is unlike what he is in internals. Not only does he then speak and act differently, he also thinks and wills differently, for his thought and will then are that he may appear as a civil, moral, and even as a spiritual man, and this either because of the law and its penalties or for the sake of reputation and consequent honor and gain, thus from fear of losing these. That the man is then "afar off" from himself is evident from the fact that when he returns from externals into his internals, as he does when alone, he thinks and wills in a wholly different way, and when he is with companions like himself he talks in a different way. This shows that "standing afar off" signifies in the spiritual sense to be in externals.
[2] The chief reason why an evil man introduces himself or comes from internals into externals is fear; for fear closes up his internals when he sees the punishments and torments of his companions, and when his internals are closed up he comes into externals, and remains in them as long as the punishment is kept before his mind. And yet his internal is not made better by punishments, but remains wholly as before; therefore as soon as the fear of punishment recedes he returns into his evils, which are interiorly with him, and which belong to his spirit, and thus to his life. This may be illustrated by examples from the spiritual world. An evil spirit there is compelled by punishments not to speak or do evil; and in such a state he remains as long as he is in the place where the punishment is kept before his mind; but as soon as the fear of the punishment recedes he is evil as before. It is the same in the world. So long as thieves, robbers, and other criminals are in a city where all are held in restraint by the law and its penalties they do not steal or rob; but as soon as they come into forests, or into places where they have no fear of the penalties of the law, or when they can pervert the law by crafty devices and thus escape the penalties, they come into their internals and commit crimes.
[3] All this makes clear that externals are remote from internals, and stand as it were afar off; and this is why in the Word "afar off" signifies the external or what is remote from the internal, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:
Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done, and ye that are near know My power (Isaiah 33:13).
"Those that are afar off" here mean the nations, because they are remote from internal truths, and "those that are near" mean those who are of the church and who are in truths from the Word. In the same:
Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth (Isaiah 43:6).
Here, too, "sons and daughters" mean the nations; and because these are remote from truths and goods, which are the internals of the church, they are called "sons from afar, and daughters from the end of the earth," "sons" meaning those who are in truths, and "daughters" those who are in goods, "the end of the earth" signifying the ultimates of the church.
[4] In the same:
Listen, O isles, unto Me, and ye peoples from afar. Lo, these shall come to thee from afar, and lo, these from the north and from the west (Isaiah 49:1, 12).
"Isles" and "peoples from afar," and "from the north and from the west," mean in like manner the nations with whom the church was to be established. The meaning is the same in Jeremiah:
Declare it in the isles afar off (Jeremiah 31:10).
In Zechariah:
They that are afar off shall come, and shall build the temple of Jehovah (Zechariah 6:15).
Here, too, "those afar off" mean the nations, and the "temple" that they shall build is the church. In Jeremiah:
Am I God that is near, and not God afar off? (Jeremiah 23:23).
This signifies that the Lord is God both to those who are within the church and to those who are outside of it, also to those who are in internal truths and to those who are in external truths. In David:
O God, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the sea, of those that are afar off (Psalms 65:5).
"The ends of the earth and of the sea, of those that are afar off," signify the ultimates of the church. In the contrary sense "afar off" signifies evil, because evil is in the external man; for all who are in evils and falsities therefrom are external men. Such are meant by "nations and peoples from afar" and "from the end of the earth" in the following passages. In Isaiah:
The nations from afar and from the end of the earth (Isaiah 5:26).
Peoples coming from a land afar off, from the end of the earth 1(16.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)
[5] Since God is infinite He is also omnipotent, for omnipotence is infinite power. God's omnipotence shines forth from the universe, which is the visible heaven and the habitable globe; these, with all things that are in the visible heavens and on the habitable globe, are the great works of the omnipotent Creator. The creation of these and their maintenance testify that they are from the Divine omnipotence, while their order and mutual regard to ends from first to last testify that they are from the Divine wisdom. God's omnipotence shines forth also from the heaven that is above or within our visible heaven, and from the globe there that is inhabited by angels, as ours is by men. There are wonderful testimonies there to the Divine omnipotence; and as these have been seen by me and revealed to me, I am permitted to mention them. All men that have died from the first creation of the world are there; and these after death continue to be men in form, but are spirits in essence.
[6] Spirits are affections that are of love, and thus also thoughts. The spirits of heaven are affections of the love of good, and the spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. Good affections, which are angels, dwell on a globe that is called heaven, and evil affections, which are spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The globe is one, but is divided into expanses as it were, one below another. There are six expanses; in the highest the angels of the third heaven dwell, and beneath them the angels of the second heaven, and beneath these the angels of the first heaven, below these dwell the spirits of the first hell, beneath these the spirits of the second hell, and beneath these the spirits of the third hell. All things are arranged in such order that the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, which are angels of heaven; the spirits of the lowest hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first heaven. By such opposition the affections are held in equilibrium as in the scales of a balance.
[7] Such heavens and hells are innumerable, divided into assemblies and societies according to the genera and species of all affections; and these affections in their order and connection are in accord with the nearer and more remote affinities of the societies. This is true both of the heavens and of the hells. This order and this connection of affections are known to the Lord alone, and the arrangement of so many different affections, as many as there have been men from the first creation and will be hereafter, is a work of infinite wisdom, and at the same time of infinite power. That the Divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipotence, is there clearly evident from the fact that neither the angels of heaven nor the devils of hell have any power whatever from themselves. If they had any at all heaven would fall to pieces, hell would become a chaos, and with these every man would perish.
Footnotes:
1. The photolithograph has "earth;" the Hebrew "heavens." See n. 331, where Swedenborg translates it "heavens."
1133. [Vers. 10.] "E longinquo stantes propter timorem cruciatus ejus." - Quod significet dum in externis sunt ex formidine poenarum infernalium, constat ex significatione "e longinquo stare", quod sit in externis esse (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "timoris cruciatus", quod sit formido propter poenas infernales, "cruciatus" enim illas poenas significat.
Quod "e longinquo stare" significet in externis esse, est quia homo in se est dum in internis est, ibi enim residet amor ejus, inde ipsa vita ejus; interna hominis sunt quae ejus spiritus sunt, ac in Verbo intelliguntur per "propinqua"; externa itaque, quia ab internis remota sunt, intelliguntur per "longinqua", hic per "stare e longinquo": etiam omnis homo malus, dum in externis est, non sibi similis est, qualis est in internis; tunc [non] modo loquitur et facit aliter, sed etiam cogitat et vult aliter; cogitatio enim et voluntas ejus tunc est ut appareat homo civilis, moralis, et quoque ut homo spiritualis, et hoc vel propter legem et ejus poenas, vel propter famam et inde honorem et lucrum, ita propter timorem jacturae illorum; quod tunc e longinquo a semet fuerit, patet ex eo, quod dum ab externis in interna sua redit, quod fit dum solus est, tunc prorsus aliter cogitet et velit, et quoque cum sociis sui similibus aliter loquitur; inde patet quod "e longinquo stare", in spirituali sensu significet in externis esse.
[2] Quod homo malus ab internis in externa se immittat aut veniat, principalis causa est timor; quare dum videt poenas et cruciatus consociorum suorum, tunc timor claudit interna ejus; quibus clausis est in externis, ac in illis manet quamdiu poena obversatur animo: sed usque per poenas internum ejus non emendatur; id nihilo minus manet ut prius; quare ut primum timor poenae recedit, in sua mala, quae interius apud illum sunt, ac quae ejus spiritus et inde vitae sunt, redit. Hoc illustrari potest per experientiam e mundo spirituali; malus spiritus per poenas ibi adigitur ut non malum loquatur, nec malum faciat, et talis est quamdiu in loco est ubi poena obversatur animo ejus; ut primum autem timor poenae recedit, est malus sicut prius. Simile est in mundo; fures, latrones et alii scelesti, quamdiu sunt in urbe, ubi omnes in vinculis tenentur per legem et ejus poenas, non furantur nec latrocinantur; sed ut primum in silvas veniunt, aut in loca ubi non timent poenas legis, aut dum possunt legem per astutias pervertere, et inde poenas avertere, veniunt in interna sua et committunt scelera.
[3] Ex his patet quod externa ab internis distent, et sicut e longinquo stent. Ex eo est, quod in Verbo per "longinquum" significetur externum, seu quod remotum est ab interno, ut in sequentibus locis:
– Apud Esaiam,
"Audite, longinqui, quid fecerim; et cognoscite, propinqui, virtutem meam" ( 1
33:13):
per "longinquos" ibi intelliguntur gentes, quia remotae a veris internis; et per "propinquos" intelliguntur illi qui ab ecclesia sunt et ex Verbo in veris.
Apud eundem,
"Adduc filios meos e longinquo, et filias meas ab extremitate terrae" (43:6);
etiam hic per "filios" et "filias" intelliguntur gentes; quae quia remotae sunt a veris et bonis, quae interna ecclesiae sunt, vocantur "filii e longinquo, et filiae ab extremitate terrae"; per "filios" intelliguntur qui in veris, et per "filias" qui in bonis; "extremitas terrae" significat ultima ecclesiae.
[4] Apud eundem,
"Attendite, insulae, ad Me; et [auscultate,] populi e longinquo. .... Ecce" Tibi "e longinquo venient, et ecce isti e septentrione et ab occidente" (49:1, 12):
per "insulas" et per "populos e longinquo, et ex septentrione et ab occidente", similiter intelliguntur gentes, apud quas ecclesia instauraretur.
Apud Jeremiam,
"Annuntiate insulis e longinquo" (31:10);
similiter.
Apud Sachariam,
"Longinqui venient et aedificabunt templum Jehovae" (6:15):
"longinqui" etiam hic sunt gentes, et "templum" quod aedificabunt est ecclesia.
Apud Jeremiam,
"Num Deus e propinquo Ego, ...et non Deus e longinquo?" (23:23,)
significat quod Dominus sit Deus illis qui intra ecclesiam sunt, et quoque illis qui extra eam; tum illis qui in veris internis sunt, et illis qui in veris externis.
Apud Davidem,
"Deus...fiducia omnium finium terrae, et maris longinquorum" (Psalms 65:6, [B.A. 5]):
"fines terrae et mare longinquorum" significant ultima ecclesiae. In opposito sensu per "longinquum" significatur malum, quia hoc in externo homine est; sunt enim omnes qui in malis et inde falsis sunt, homines externi; hi per "gentes et populos e longinquo" et "ab extremitate terrae" in sequentibus locis intelliguntur:
– Apud Esaiam,
Gentes "e longinquo...et ab extremitate terrae" (5:26);
apud eundem,
Populi "venientes e terra longinquitatis, ab extremitate 2
caelorum" (13:5);
apud Jeremiam,
Gentes "venientes e terra longinquitatis" contra Hierosolymam (4:16);
apud eundem,
"Adducam" super domum Israelis "gentem e longinquo" (5:15):
quia per "Babelem" significatur malum omnis generis, et profanatio boni, ideo illa vocatur
"Terra longinquitatis" ([Esai.] 39:3).
Quod "longinqui significent illos qui in externis ecclesiae sunt constare etiam potest ex illis qui in spirituali mundo sunt in externis, et qui in internis; hi sunt in meridie, illi in septentrione, ita distant secundum gradus receptionis veri et boni. Quod per "propinquum" intelligatur internum, videatur supra (n. 16).
[5] (Continuatio de Fide Athanasiana, et de Domino.)
Quoniam Deus est infinitus, est etiam omnipotens, omnipotentia enim est infinita potentia. Omnipotentia Dei elucet ex universo, quod est caelum aspectabile et orbis habitabilis, quae sunt magna opera Creatoris omnipotentis; pariter omnia quae sunt in caelo aspectabili et super orbe habitabili: creatio eorum ac sustentatio eorum testantur quod sint ex Divina omnipotentia, ac ordo eorum et mutuus finium respectus a primo ad ultimum testantur quod sint ex Divina sapientia. Omnipotentia Dei elucet etiam ex caelo quod supra aut intra caelum nostrum aspectabile est, et ab orbe ibi qui habitatur ab angelis sicut noster ab hominibus; ibi sunt stupenda Divinae omnipotentiae testimonia, quae quia mihi visa et revelata sunt, illa memorare licet: sunt ibi omnes homines qui a prima mundi creatione obierunt, qui post obitum etiam sunt homines quoad formam, at sunt spiritus quoad essentiam.
[6] Spiritus sunt affectiones quae amoris, et sic etiam cogitationes; spiritus caeli affectiones amoris boni, et spiritus inferni affectiones amoris mali. Affectiones bonae, quae sunt angeli, habitant super orbe qui vocatur caelum; et affectiones malae, quae sunt spiritus inferni, habitant profunde sub illis; orbis est unus, sed sectus sicut in expansa, unum infra alterum. Expansa sunt sex; in supremo habitant angeli tertii caeli, et sub illis angeli secundi caeli, et sub his angeli primi; infra hos habitant spiritus primi inferni, sub illis spiritus secundi inferni, et sub his spiritus tertii: omnia ita disposite ordinata, ut affectiones malae, quae sunt spiritus inferni, in vinculis teneantur ab affectionibus bonis, quae sunt angeli caeli; spiritus infimi inferni ab angelis supremi caeli, spiritus medii inferni ab angelis medii caeli, et spiritus primi inferni ab angelis primi caeli; ex tali oppositione tenentur affectiones in aequilibrio sicut in trutina bilancis.
[7] Tales caeli et tales inferni sunt innumerabiles, distincti in coetus ac societates secundum genera et species omnium affectionum, et hae in ordine et in nexu sunt secundum affinitates propinquiores et remotiores illarum; quemadmodum in caelis, ita in infernis. Ille ordo et ille nexus affectionum est soli Domino notus, ac ordinatio tot variarum affectionum quot fuerunt homines a prima creatione, et quot futuri posthac, est infinitae sapientiae, et simul infinitae potentiae. Quod Divina potentia sit infinita, seu quod sit omnipotentia, ex eo ibi manifeste constat, quod non angelis caeli, nec diabolis inferni, sit hilum potentiae a se: si foret hilum, caderet caelum, fieret infernum chaos, ac periret cum iis omnis homo.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.
2. The editors made a correction or note here.