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386. And with hunger. That this signifies by privation, lack, and ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good, is plain from the signification of hunger, as denoting the privation of the knowledges of truth and good, also a lack and ignorance of them. These things are signified by hunger in the Word. The reason that these things are signified by hunger, is, because by meat and drink are signified all things that nourish and sustain the spiritual life, which in general are the knowledges of truth and good. The spiritual life itself has need equally of nourishment and support as the natural life; therefore when man is deprived of them, or when they fail, or when they are unknown and yet are desired, that life is said to be in famine. Natural foods also correspond to spiritual foods, as bread to the good of love, wine to the truths thence, and other meats and drinks specifically to their own goods and truths. This has been treated of throughout in the numbers preceding, and will be treated in those following. It is said that hunger signifies deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good, also a lack and ignorance thereof, because there is deprivation with those who are in evils and the falsities thence, a lack with those who cannot know them, because they are not in the church or in its doctrine, and ignorance, with those who know that [such knowledges] exist and thence desire them. These three are signified by famine in the Word, as is evident from the passages there in which famine, the hungry, thirst, and the thirsty, are named.
[2] (i) That famine signifies a deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good which takes place with those who are in evils and the falsities thence, is plain from the following passages. In Isaiah:
"In the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land darkened, the people are become fuel for the fire; a man shall not spare his brother. And if he shall snatch on the right hand, he shall yet be hungry; and if he shall eat on the left hand, they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together against Jehovah" (3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296.) That this is the case with those who are in evils and falsities, is meant by, "they together against Jehovah"; for when the will is in good and the understanding in truth, then they are with Jehovah; because they are both from Him; but when the will is in evil, and the understanding in falsity, then they are against Jehovah.
[3] In the same:
"Rejoice not thou, whole Philistea, that the rod that smiteth thee is broken; for from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, the fruit of which shall be a flying serpent. I will kill thy root with famine, and it shall slay thy remainder" (3412, 3413, 8093, 8313). That this false principle, which is faith alone, or faith separated from charity, destroys all the good and truth of the church, is meant by its being said, from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, the serpent's root denoting that false principle, and a basilisk denoting the destruction of the good and truth of the church thereby. That thence arises reasoning from absolute falsities, is meant by, the fruit of which shall be a flying serpent, a flying serpent denoting reasoning from falsities. The deprivation of all truth, and thence of all good, is meant by, "I will kill thy root with famine, and famine shall slay thy remainder," famine denoting the deprivation of truth and good, and the remainder denoting all things brought forth from that principle. That such things are meant, has also been made evident by experience itself. Those who have confirmed themselves in the principle concerning faith alone in doctrine and in life, are seen in the spiritual world as basilisks, and their reasonings as flying serpents.
[4] In the same:
Who formeth a God, and casteth a molten image, and it profiteth not. "He worketh the iron with the tongs, and operateth upon it with the coal, and he formeth it with pointed hammers; so he worketh it by the arm of his strength; he is even hungry until his strength faileth, neither doth he drink until he is weary" (8869, 8932, 8941, 9424, 10406, 10503).
[5] In the same:
"These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? devastation and a breach and famine and the sword" (51:19).
By famine is here also meant the deprivation of the knowledges (cognitions) of good, even till there is no more good; and by the sword the deprivation of the knowledges (cognitions) of truth, even till there is no more truth; therefore mention is also made of devastation and a breach, devastation signifying that there is no more good, and a breach that there is no more truth.
[6] In the same:
"Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed" (65:13).
Here, also, by being hungry and thirsty is meant to be deprived of the good of love and the truths of faith, by being hungry to be deprived of the good of love, and by being thirsty to be deprived of the truths of faith; by eating and drinking are signified the communication and appropriation of goods and truths; and by the servants of the Lord Jehovih, those who receive goods and truths from the Lord; hence it is evident what is signified by, "Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty." That the former shall have eternal happiness, but the latter unhappiness, is signified by, "Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed."
[7] In Jeremiah:
"By the sword, by famine, and by pestilence will I consume them; Yet I said, Ah, Lord Jehovih! behold the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; wherefore thus said Jehovah against the prophets prophesying in my name, when I sent them not; yet they say the sword and famine shall not be in this land, by the sword and by famine shall these prophets be consumed; the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, neither shall there be any to bury them" (14:12, 13, 15, 16).
By sword, famine, and pestilence, is signified the deprivation of truth and good, and thence of spiritual life, by falsities and evils; by the sword, the deprivation of truth by falsities; by famine, the deprivation of good by evils; and by the pestilence, the deprivation of spiritual life. By prophets are meant those who teach the truths of doctrine, and, in an abstract sense, the doctrinals of truth. Hence it is evident what is signified by all these, namely, that those who teach the doctrine of falsity and evil shall perish by the things which are signified by sword and famine. That those also who receive that doctrine from them are separated from all the truth of the church, and damned, is signified by, "they shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, neither shall there be any to bury them"; the streets of Jerusalem denoting the truths of the church, to be cast out in them denoting to be separated from those truths, and not to be buried denoting to be damned.
[8] Similar things are signified by the sword, famine, and pestilence in the following passages, namely, by the sword, the deprivation of truth by falsities; by famine, the deprivation of good by evils; and by pestilence, the consumption and deprivation of spiritual life thence.
In Jeremiah:
"They shall be consumed by the sword, and by famine, that their carcase may be meat to the birds of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth" (16:4).
The dead body being meat to the birds of the heavens, signifies damnation by falsities; and their being meat to the beast of the earth, damnation by evils.
In the same:
"They denied Jehovah, when they said, He is not; neither shall evil come upon us; and we shall not see sword and famine " (5:12).
In the same:
"Behold, I will visit upon them; the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine" (11:22).
In the same:
"Give their sons to the famine, and make them flow down upon the hands of the sword, that their wives may become bereaved and widows, and their men be put to death, their young men smitten by the sword in war" (18:21).
In the same:
"I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten for badness. And I will pursue after them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence" (29:17, 18).
In the same:
"I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence upon them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers" (24:10).
In the same:
"I proclaim a liberty for you, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will deliver you up to commotion in all the kingdoms of the earth" (34:17).
In the Evangelists:
"Nation shall be roused against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes, in divers places" (Matthew 14:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11).
In Ezekiel:
"Because thou hast defiled my sanctuary, a third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part to every wind. When I shall send among them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction; whilst I will send them to destroy you; yet, for all that, I will increase the famine upon you, until I break your staff of bread. And I will send upon you famine and the evil wild beast, and I will make thee bereaved; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee" (5:11, 12, 16, 17).
In the same:
"The sword from without, and the pestilence and famine within; he who is in the field shall die by the sword, but him who is in the city shall the famine and the pestilence devour" (7:15).
In the same:
"On account of all the evil abominations they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. He who is far off shall die by the pestilence; he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remaineth and hath been kept alive, shall die by the famine" (6:11, 12).
In Jeremiah:
"But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, that you may not obey the voice of Jehovah your God; [saying,] No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of the trumpet, and shall not hunger for bread; and there will we dwell; hear ye the word of Jehovah, If ye wholly set your faces to go into Egypt, and come to sojourn there, it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall seize you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were fearful, shall follow close after you in Egypt; and there ye shall die. And they shall die there by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; neither shall one of them remain by reason of the evil that I will bring upon you. And ye shall be a reviling, and an astonishment, and reproach; neither shall ye see this place any more. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye have desired to come in order to sojourn there" (42:13-18, 22; 44:12, 13, 27).
By Egypt is here signified the Natural, and by coming into Egypt and sojourning there, is signified to become natural. (That Egypt denotes the scientific of the natural man, and that hence it denotes the Natural, and the land of Egypt the natural mind (mens) may be seen, n. Exodus 16:2, 3, 7-9, 22).
[9] In Ezekiel:
"Then I shall stretch out mine hand against the house of Israel, that I may break its staff of bread, and send famine into it, and cut off man and beast from it. When I shall cause the evil wild beast to pass through the land, and it shall bereave it, that it become a desolation. When I shall send my four evil judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil wild beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast" (14:13, 15, 21).
In these words is described the vastation of the church. The house of Israel and Jerusalem denote the church; by breaking the staff of bread is signified to destroy everything celestial and spiritual, by which [it is] to be nourished; for bread implies everything of heaven and the church, or all spiritual nourishment; and by cutting off man and beast (bestiam), is signified all spiritual and natural affection; therefore by the sword, the famine, the evil wild beast [feram], and the pestilence, are signified the destruction of truth by falsity, of good by evil, of the affection of truth and good by the lusts arising from evil loves, and the consequent extinction of spiritual life; these are called the four evil judgments, which are also meant by the sword, by hunger, by death, and by the evil wild beast in this verse of the Apocalypse. That it is the vastation of the church which is thus described, is evident.
[10] The three evils signified by the famine, the sword, and the pestilence, were also announced by the prophet Gad to David, after he had numbered the people (2 Sam. 24:13). No one can know why such evils were denounced against David because of his numbering the people, unless he knows that the people of Israel represented, and thence signified, the church as to all its truths and goods, and that to number signified to know the quality thereof, and afterwards to arrange and dispose them according to it. Because no one can know and do this but the Lord alone; and the man who attempts to do so, deprives himself of all good and truth, also of spiritual life, therefore because David did this representatively, those three [evils] were proposed to him, of which he might choose one. Who does not see that there was nothing evil in numbering the people, and that the evil on account of which David and his people were punished was concealed interiorly, namely, in the representatives in which the church then was? In those passages adduced, famine signifies the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good, and thence the deprivation of all truth and good.
[11] (ii) That famine also signifies the lack of them [i.e. of knowledges], which is with those who cannot know them, because they are not in the church or in the doctrine thereof, is plain from the following passages.
In Amos:
"Behold, the days come, in which I will send a famine into the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah; that they may wander from sea to sea, from the north to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and youths faint for thirst" (2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6788; and that young men signify truths themselves, and intelligence, see n. 7668.)
[12] In Isaiah:
"Therefore my people shall live in banishment for want of knowledge; and men of famine shall be the glory thereof, and the multitude thereof dried up with thirst" (5:13).
The desolation or destruction of the church for want of the knowledges of good and truth, is signified by, "My people shall live in banishment for want of knowledge." The Divine truth which constitutes the church is signified by glory; that this is not, and that, consequently, good is not, is signified by the glory thereof being men of famine, men of famine denoting those who have no perception of good, and no knowledges of truth; and that hence they have no truth is signified by the multitude thereof being dried up with thirst, to be dried up with thirst denoting a lack of truth, and multitude in the Word being said of truths.
[13] In the same:
"Let the people seek their God, the law, and the testimony; for they shall pass through it perplexed and famished; and it shall come to pass, that when they hunger, they shall be indignant, and shall curse their king, and their gods, and shall look upwards; they shall look also to the land, but behold straitness and thick darkness" (8:19-22).
Those who are in falsities from a lack of the knowledges of truth and good, and their indignation in consequence are here treated of; the defect is described by their looking upwards, and also regarding the earth, but behold, straitness and thick darkness. To look upwards and to regard the earth, denotes [to look] everywhere where are goods and truths. But, "behold, straitness and thick darkness," denotes that they are nowhere [to be found], but absolute falsities, thick darkness denoting dense falsity. Their indignation in consequence is described by, "and it shall come to pass, that when they hunger, they shall be indignant, and shall curse their king and their gods, to be hungry denotes a desire to know; king denotes falsity; the gods denote the falsities of worship thence; and to curse denotes to detest.
[14] In Lamentations:
"Lift up thy hands" to the Lord "over the soul of thy children, that faint for hunger in the top of all the streets" (2:19).
Lamentation over those who are to be instructed in the knowledges of good and truth by which spiritual life is attained, is described by, "Lift up thy hands to the Lord over the soul of thy children"; and the want of those knowledges is described by their fainting for hunger in the top of all the streets; hunger denotes want; streets denote truths of doctrine; to faint in the top of them, denotes their absence.
[15] In the same:
"Servants have ruled over us; neither is there any to deliver out of their hand. We get our bread with the peril of our souls because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skins are black like an oven because of the storms of famine" (5:8-10).
By the servants that have ruled while there was none to deliver out of their hand, are signified evils of life and falsities of doctrine, in general evil loves and false principles. We get our bread with the peril of our souls, because of the sword of the wilderness, signifies that there is no good from which the true spiritual life [results], in consequence of the falsity everywhere reigning; the bread denotes the good from which spiritual life [is derived]; the sword denotes falsity destroying; and the wilderness denotes where there is no good because no truth, for all good with man is formed by truths, therefore, where there are not truths, but falsities, good is not. Our skins are black like an oven because of the storms of famine, signifies that for want of the knowledges of good and truth the natural man is in its own evil love. The skin, from correspondence with the grand man or heaven, signifies the natural man; to be black like an oven, signifies to be in its own evil from falsities; and the storms of famine signify an entire lack of the knowledges of good and truth.
[16] In Luke:
"Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger" (1992, 3667, 4572, 5628, 6229). Famine in which he shall be redeemed, signifies temptation as to the perception of good, in which he shall be delivered from evil; to redeem is to deliver; and the hand of the sword in the war, signifies temptation as to the understanding of truth, war also denoting temptation or combat against falsities.
[17] (iii) That famine in the Word also signifies ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good, as applied to those who know that there are such knowledges and thence desire them, is plain from the following passages. In Matthew:
"Blessed are they who hunger for justice, for they shall be filled" (5:6).
To hunger for justice signifies to desire good, for in the Word justice is said of good.
And in Luke:
"God hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away" (1:53).
They that hunger denote those who are in ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good, and yet in the desire of them and the rich, those who possess in abundance those knowledges, but have no desire for them. That the former are enriched, is signified by God filling them with good things; and that the latter are deprived thereof, is signified by God sending them away empty.
[18] In David:
"Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine " (Psalms 33:18, 19).
By them that fear Jehovah are meant those who love to do His precepts. By delivering the soul from death, is signified from evils and falsities, and thence from damnation; and by keeping them alive in famine, is signified to give spiritual life according to the desire. The desire for the knowledges of truth and good is the spiritual affection of truth, which exists only with those who are in good of life, that is, who do the Lord's precepts, who, as has been said, are meant by them that fear Jehovah.
[19] Again:
"Let them confess his mercy to Jehovah, that he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with good" (Psalms 107:8, 9).
To satisfy the longing soul, and to fill the hungry soul with good, means for those who desire truths and goods; the longing soul signifying those who desire truths, and the hungry soul, those who desire goods.
Again:
"There is no want to them that fear" Jehovah. "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek Jehovah shall not want any good thing" (Psalms 34:9, 10).
Here also they that fear Jehovah, who have no want, signify those who love to do the Lord's precepts; and they that seek Jehovah, who shall not want any good thing, signify those who are therefore loved by the Lord, and receive goods and truths from Him. The young lions that lack, and suffer hunger, signify those who know and are wise from themselves; to lack and suffer hunger denote that they have neither truth nor good. (What lions in both senses signify, may be seen, n. 278.)
[20] Again:
Jehovah "who executeth judgment for the oppressed; who giveth bread to the hungry. Jehovah who looseth the prisoners" (5037, 5086, 5096.)
[21] Again:
Jehovah "turneth the wilderness into a lake of waters, and a land of dryness into the going forth of waters. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city of habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, and make fruit of increase" (107:35-37).
These words are to be understood altogether otherwise than according to the sense of the letter, namely thus, that those who are ignorant of the knowledges of truth, and yet are desirous of knowing them, shall be greatly enriched and opulent; for by Jehovah turning the wilderness into a lake of waters, is signified that where there was ignorance there shall be abundance of truth, a wilderness denoting where there is ignorance of truth, and a lake of waters an abundance of it. By turning a land of dryness into the going forth of waters, is signified the same in the natural man, for the land of dryness denotes where there is ignorance of truth, the going forth of waters denotes abundance; the natural man denotes the going forth, and waters denote truths. That "He maketh the hungry to dwell there," signifies that [He maketh] those [live] who are in the desire for truth; to dwell denotes to live, and they that are hungry denote those who desire. "That they may prepare a city of habitation," signifies to form for themselves a doctrine of life; a city denoting doctrine, and a habitation denoting life. That they may "sow the fields, and plant vineyards, and make fruit of increase," signifies to receive truths, to understand them, and to do them; to sow fields denotes to be instructed and to receive truths; to plant vineyards denotes to receive those [truths] in the understanding, that is, in the spirit, for vineyards denote spiritual truths, whence to plant them denotes spiritually to receive, that is, to understand those [truths]; to make fruit of increase denotes to do them and to receive goods, for fruits are the deeds and goods of charity.
[22] Again:
"Jehovah knoweth the days of the upright; and shall be their inheritance for ever. They shall not be ashamed in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied" (Psalms 37:18, 19).
The days of the upright signify the states of those who are in good, and in the truths thence, or those who are in charity, and in the faith thence. By Jehovah being their inheritance for ever, is signified that they are His own and are in heaven; by their not being, ashamed in the time of evil, is signified that they shall conquer when they are tempted by evils; and by their being satisfied in the days of famine, is signified that they shall be supported by truths, when they are tempted and infested by falsities. The time of evil and the day of famine, signify states of temptations; and temptations are from evils and falsities.
[23] In the first book of Samuel:
"The bows of the mighty were broken, and they that stumbled were girded with strength. The full have hired themselves for bread; and the hungry have ceased, even until the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many children hath failed" (2:4, 5).
Here, by the full who have hired themselves for bread, and by the hungry who have ceased, are signified those who wish for and desire goods and truths. The rest may be seen explained above (n. 257 and 357).
[24] In Isaiah:
"The fool speaketh foolishness, and his heart worketh iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail" (32:6).
He is here called a fool who is in falsities and evils from the love of self, consequently, from his own intelligence. Falsities are meant by the foolishness which he speaks; and evils, by the iniquity which his heart works. The evils which he speaks against goods are meant by the hypocrisy which he practises; and the falsities which he speaks against truths, by the error which he speaks against Jehovah. That this is to persuade and destroy those who desire goods and truths, is meant by making empty the hungry soul, and causing the drink of the thirsty to fail; the hungry soul denoting those who desire goods, and he who thirsteth for drink, those who desire truths.
[25] Again:
"If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday" (58:10).
By these words is described charity towards the neighbour, here towards those who are in ignorance, and at the same time in the desire of knowing truths, and in grief on account of the falsities by which they are possessed; and that with those who are in that charity, falsities shall be dispelled, and truths give light and shine. Charity towards those who are in ignorance, and at the same time in the desire of knowing truths, is meant by, if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry; the hungry denoting those who desire, and the soul denoting the intelligence of truth instructing. That it is so with those who are in grief on account of the falsities with which they are possessed, is meant by, if thou wouldst satisfy the afflicted soul; that with those who are in such charity, ignorance will be dissipated, and truths give light and shine, is meant by, thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noonday. Darkness signifies the ignorance of the spiritual mind, and thick darkness the ignorance of the natural mind; light also signifies truth in the light, in like manner noonday. Such enlightenment have they who, from charity or spiritual affection, instruct those who are in falsities from ignorance; for that charity is a receptacle of the influx of light or truth from the Lord.
[26] Again:
Is not this the fast which I have chosen? to break thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the afflicted outcasts into thy house? when thou seest the naked, and coverest him" (195).
[27] Again:
"They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for he that hath mercy on them leadeth them, even unto the springs of waters shall he guide them" (49:10).
That they shall not hunger nor thirst does not signify that they shall not hunger and thirst for natural food and drink; and that the natural heat and sun shall not smite them, does not signify that they shall not become hot from these; similarly, that they are to be led unto the springs of waters. Whoever thinks does he not see that other things are there meant? By to hunger and thirst, therefore, are signified to hunger and thirst for such things as pertain to eternal life, or which give it, which in general have reference to the good of love and the truth of faith, hunger to the good of love, and thirst to the truth of faith. The heat and the sun signify warmth from the principles of falsity and the love of evil; for these take away all spiritual hunger and thirst; the springs of waters unto which the Lord will lead them, signify enlightenment in all truth, a spring or fountain denoting the Word, and also doctrine from the Word; waters denoting truths; and to lead, when said of the Lord, denoting to enlighten. From these considerations it is evident what is signified by the Lord's words in John:
"I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (6:35).
Here it is evident that to hunger is to come to the Lord, and that to thirst is to believe on Him; to come to the Lord is to do His commandments.
[28] Because these things are signified by hungering and thirsting, it is also evident what is signified in the Lord's words in Matthew:
The King, said to them on the right hand, I was an hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink; I was a sojourner, and ye took me in. And he said to them on the left hand, that he was an hungered, and they gave him no meat; that he was thirsty, and they gave him no drink; that he was a sojourner, and they took him not in (1463, 4444, 7908, 8007, 8913, 9196). In the Word also we read of the Lord, that He hungered and thirsted, whereby is meant, that from His Divine love He willed and desired the salvation of the human race.
[29] That He hungered we read in Mark:
"When they were come from Bethany," Jesus "hungered; and, seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon; but when he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the time of figs. Therefore he said unto it, Let no man eat fruit of thee for ever. And the disciples, in the morning, as they passed by, saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots" (217, 4231, 5113; and that the leaves signify the truths of the natural man, see above (n. 109).)
[30] That the Lord thirsted we read in John:
"Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. And when Jesus had received the vinegar he said, It is finished" (83). From the passages adduced above it is evident what famine signifies in the Word. Let them be examined and well considered, and it will be seen by such as think at all interiorly, that natural famine, hunger, and thirst, can in no way be meant, but, spiritual.
386. And with famine, signifies by the deprivation, lack, and ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good. This is evident from the signification of "famine," as being the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good, also the lack and ignorance of them. These are signified by "famine" in the Word. This is the signification of "famine" because "food and drink" signify all things that nourish and sustain spiritual life, and these in general are the knowledges of truth and good. The spiritual life itself needs nourishment and support just as much as the natural life does; so it is said to be famished when a man is deprived of these knowledges, or when they fail, or when they are unknown and yet are desired. Moreover, natural foods correspond to spiritual foods, as bread to the good of love, wine to the truths therefrom, and other foods and drinks to particular goods and truths, which have been treated of in several places before, and will be treated of in what follows. It is said that "famine" signifies 1. the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good, 2. lack, and 3. ignorance of them, since there is deprivation with those who are in evils and in falsities therefrom; lack with those who cannot know them, because they are not in the church or in its doctrine; and ignorance with those who know that there are knowledges, and therefore desire them; these three things are signified by "famine" in the Word, as can be seen from the passages there in which "famine," "the hungry," "thirst," and "the thirsty," are mentioned.
[2] 1. That "famine" signifies the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good which exists with those who are in evils and thence in falsities, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:
In the fury of Jehovah of Hosts is the land obscured, and the people are become as the food of the fire; a man shall not pity his brother. And if he shall cut down on the right hand he shall be hungry, and if he shall eat on the left hand they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm; Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; they together against Judah 1(Isaiah 9:19-21).
Except from the internal sense no one can understand this, nor can even know what is treated of. This treats of the extinction of good by falsity, and of truth by evil. The perversion of the church through falsity is meant by "in the fury of Jehovah of Hosts is the land obscured;" and the perversion of it through evil is meant by "the people are become as the food of the fire;" "the land obscured" signifies the church where there is no truth, but only falsity; and "the food of the fire" signifies the consumption of the truth by the love of evil, "fire" meaning the love of evil. That falsity destroys good is meant by "a man shall not pity his brother," "man" [vir] and "brother" signifying truth and good, here "man" signifies falsity, and "brother" good, because it is said that "he shall not pity him." The consequent deprivation of all good and of all truth, however much it may be sought, is meant by "if he shall cut down on the right hand he shall be hungry, and if he shall eat on the left hand they shall not be satisfied," "right hand" signifying good from which is truth, and "left hand" truth from good, "to cut down, 2and to eat these" signifies to seek, and "to be hungry and not be satisfied" means to be deprived of; that evil extinguishes all truth and falsity all good is meant by "they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm," "flesh of the arm" meaning the power of good through truth, "man" falsity, and "to eat" to extinguish. That thence all the will of good and the understanding of truth perishes is meant by "Manasseh shall eat Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh." (That "Manasseh" means the will of good, and "Ephraim" the understanding of truth, see Arcana Coelestia 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296.) That this is with those who are in evils and falsities is meant by "they together against Judah;" for when the will is in good and the understanding in truth these are with Jehovah, since they are both from Him; but when the will is in evil and the understanding in falsity they are against Jehovah.
[3] In the same:
Be not glad, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smiteth thee is broken; for from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, and his fruit shall be a fiery-flying serpent. I will cause thy root to die with famine, and it shall slay thy remnant (Arcana Coelestia 3412, 3413, 8093, 8313). That this false principle, which is faith alone or faith separated from charity, destroys every good and truth of the church is meant by "from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk," the "serpent's root" meaning that false principle, and "basilisk" the destruction of the good and truth of the church thereby. That reasoning from mere falsities springs from this is meant by "his fruit shall be a fiery-flying serpent," "fiery-flying serpent" meaning reasoning from falsities. The deprivation of all truth and thence of all good is meant by "I will cause thy root to die with famine, and famine shall slay thy remnant," meaning all things hatched out of that principle. That such is the meaning has been made evident also by experience itself. Those who in doctrine and in life have confirmed themselves in the principle of faith alone are seen in the spiritual world as basilisks, and their reasonings as fiery-flying serpents.
[4] In the same:
Who formeth a god, and casteth a molten image, and it profiteth not? he fashioneth iron with the tongs, and worketh it in the coal, and formeth it with sharp hammers; so he worketh it by the arm of his power; yea, he is hungry until there is no power, neither doth he drink, until he is weary (Arcana Coelestia 8869, 8932, 8941, 9424, 10406, 10503)
[5] In the same:
These two things have met thee; who shall be sorry for thee? devastation and a breach, and famine and sword (Isaiah 51:19).
Here, too, "famine" means the deprivation of the knowledges of good, even till there is no more good; and "sword" the deprivation of the knowledges of truth, even till there is no more truth; therefore "devastation" and "breach" are mentioned, "devastation" signifying that there is no more good, and "breach" that there is no more truth.
[6] In the same:
Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall be glad, but ye shall be ashamed (Isaiah 65:13).
Here, also, "to be hungry and thirsty" means to be deprived of the good of love and the truths of faith, "to be hungry" to be deprived of the good of love, and "to be thirsty" to be deprived of the truths of faith; "to eat and to drink" signifies communication and appropriation of goods and truths; and "the servants of the Lord Jehovih," those who receive goods and truths from the Lord; this makes clear what is signified by "Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty;" that the Lord's servants shall have eternal happiness, but the others unhappiness is signified by "Behold, My servants shall be glad, but ye shall be ashamed."
[7] In Jeremiah:
By the sword, by famine, and by pestilence I consume them; Yet I said, Ah Lord Jehovih! behold the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. Therefore thus said Jehovah against the prophets prophesying in My name, although I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land. By sword and by famine shall these prophets come to an end; the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, and there shall be no one to bury them (Jeremiah 14:12-13, 15-16).
"Sword, famine, and pestilence," signifies the deprivation of truth and of good, and thus of spiritual life through falsities and evils; "sword" signifying the deprivation of truth through falsities, "famine" the deprivation of good through evils, and "pestilence" the deprivation of spiritual life. "Prophets" mean those who teach the truths of doctrine, and in an abstract sense, the doctrinals of truth. This makes clear what is signified by all this, namely, that those who teach the doctrine of falsity and evil shall perish through these things that are signified by "sword and famine;" and that those who receive the doctrine from them are separated from every truth of the church, and are damned, is signified by "they shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem, there shall be no one to bury them," "the streets of Jerusalem" meaning the truths of the church, "to be cast out in them" meaning to be separated from those truths, and "not to be buried" meaning to be damned.
[8] "Sword, famine, and pestilence," have a like signification in the following passages, "sword" signifying the deprivation of truth through falsities, "famine" the deprivation of good through evils, and "pestilence" the consequent deprivation of spiritual life. In Jeremiah:
They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, that their carcass may be for food to the fowl of the heavens and to the beast of the earth (Jeremiah 16:4);
"their carcass may be for food to the fowl of the heavens" signifying damnation by falsities, and "for food to the beast of the earth" damnation by evils. In the same:
They have denied Jehovah when they said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword and famine (Jeremiah 5:12).
In the same:
Behold I will visit upon them; the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine (Jeremiah 11:22).
In the same:
Give their 3sons to the famine, and make them flow down upon the hands of the sword, that their wives may become bereaved and widows, and their men be slain by death, their young men smitten by the sword in war (Jeremiah 18:21).
In the same:
I will send upon them sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them like the horrible figs, that cannot be eaten for badness. And I will pursue after them with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence (Jeremiah 29:17-18).
In the same:
I will send against them the sword, famine, and pestilence, until they come to an end from upon the ground that I gave to them and to their fathers (Jeremiah 24:10).
In the same:
I proclaim to you a liberty, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will give you up for commotion by all the kingdoms of the earth (Jeremiah 34:17).
In the Gospels:
Nation shall be roused against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes, in diverse places (Matthew 24:17; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11).
In Ezekiel:
Because thou hast defiled My sanctuary, a third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and a third part I will disperse to every wind. When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, that shall be for destruction, when I shall send them to destroy you; but yet I will increase the famine upon you, until I have broken for you the staff of bread. And I will send upon you famine and the evil wild beast, and I will make thee bereaved; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee (Ezekiel 5:11-12, 5:16-17).
In the same:
The sword without, and pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field shall die by the sword, but he that is in the city famine and pestilence shall devour him (Ezekiel 7:15).
In the same:
Because of all the evil abominations, they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He that is far off shall die by pestilence; he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is preserved shall die by famine (Ezekiel 6:11-12).
In Jeremiah:
But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, that ye may not obey the voice of Jehovah your God; saying No, but we will come into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, and shall not hear the sound of the trumpet, and shall not hunger for bread, and there will we dwell: hear ye the word of Jehovah, If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and come to sojourn there, it shall come to pass that the sword that ye fear shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which ye were solicitous shall cleave to you there in Egypt, and there ye shall die. And they shall die there by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; neither shall one of them remain, because of the evil that I will bring upon you. 4And ye shall be for an execration and an astonishment, and for a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more. Now therefore know certainly, that ye shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place whither ye have desired to come to sojourn there (Jeremiah 42:13-18, 42:22; 44:12-13, 44:27).
"Egypt" here signifies the natural, and "to come into Egypt and to sojourn there" signifies to become natural. (That "Egypt" means the knowing faculty [scientificum] that belongs to the natural man, and thus the natural, and "the land of Egypt" means the natural mind, see Exodus 16:2-3, 16:7-9, 16:22).
[9] In Ezekiel:
When I shall stretch out Mine hand against the house of Israel to break for it the staff of bread, and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast; then I will cause the evil wild beast to pass through the land, and will bereave it, that it may become a desolation; then I will send my four evil judgments upon Jerusalem, sword and famine, and the evil wild beast, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast (Ezekiel 14:13, 15, 21).
This describes the vastation of the church; "the house of Israel" and "Jerusalem" meaning the church; "to break the staff of bread" signifies to destroy everything celestial and spiritual by which the church should be nourished, for "bread" involves everything belonging to heaven and the church, or all spiritual nourishment; "to cut off man and beast" signifies every spiritual and natural affection; therefore "the sword, the famine, the evil wild beast, and the pestilence," signify the destruction of truth by falsity, of good by evil, of the affection of truth and good by the lusts arising from evil loves, and the consequent extinction of spiritual life. These are called "the four evil judgments," and are also meant by "the sword, famine, death, and the evil wild beast," in this verse of Revelation. Evidently it is the vastation of the church that is thus described.
[10] The three evils that are signified by "famine, sword, and pestilence" the prophet Gad also announced to David when he had numbered the people (2 Samuel 24:13). No one can know why David was threatened with these because of his numbering the people unless he knows that the people of Israel represented and thence signified the church in respect to all its truths and goods, and that "to number" signifies to know the quality thereof, and afterwards to arrange and dispose them according to it. Because no one but the Lord knows and does this, and because the man who does it deprives himself of all good and truth and of spiritual life, and because David did this representatively, therefore these three evils were offered him, one of which he might choose. Who cannot see that there was nothing wrong in numbering the people, and that the evil on account of which David and the people were punished was hidden interiorly, that is, in the representatives in which the church then was? In the passages that have been cited, "famine" signifies the deprivation of the knowledges of truth and good, and the consequent loss of all truth and good.
[11] 2. That "famine" signifies also the lack of knowledges with those who cannot know them because they are not in the church or in the doctrine thereof, is evident from the following passages. In Amos:
Behold, the days shall come in which I will send a famine into the land, not a famine for bread, nor a thirst for waters, but for hearing the words of Jehovah; that they may wander from sea to sea, from the north to the sunrise, they may run to and fro seeking the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. In that day shall the beautiful virgins and the youths faint for thirst (Arcana Coelestia 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6788; and "youths" the truths themselves, and intelligence, Arcana Coelestia 7668[1-4])
[12] In Isaiah:
Therefore My people shall be carried away for the lack of knowledge; and the glory thereof shall be men of famine, and the multitude thereof shall be parched with thirst (Isaiah 5:13).
The desolation or destruction of the church from lack of the knowledges of good and truth is signified by, "My people shall be carried away for lack of knowledge." The Divine truth that constitutes the church is signified by "glory;" that this is not, and consequently good is not, is signified by "the glory thereof shall be men of famine," "men of famine" meaning those who are in no perception of good, and in no knowledges of truth; and that consequently there is no truth is signified by "the multitude thereof shall be parched with thirst," "to be parched with thirst" meaning the lack of truth, "multitude" in the Word being predicated of truths.
[13] In the same:
The people shall seek after their God, the law, and the testimony; for they shall pass through it perplexed and famished; and it shall come to pass that when they shall hunger they shall rage, and shall curse their king and their gods, and shall look upwards; they shall look also to the earth, but behold distress and thick darkness (Isaiah 8:19-22).
This treats of those who are in falsities from lack of the knowledges of truth and good, and their indignation on that account; the lack is described by "they shall look upwards, and they shall look also to the earth, but behold distress and thick darkness," "to look upwards and to look to the earth" means to look everywhere for goods and truths; "but behold distress and thick darkness" means that these are nowhere to be found, but mere falsities only, "thick darkness" meaning dense falsity. Their indignation on this account is meant by "it shall come to pass that when they shall hunger they shall rage, and shall curse their king and their gods," "to hunger" meaning to desire to know, "king" falsity, "the gods" the falsities of worship therefrom, and "to curse" to detest.
[14] In Lamentations:
Lift up thy hands to the Lord respecting the soul of thy babes, who have fainted for famine at the head of all the streets (Lamentations 2:19).
Lamentation over those who ought to be instructed in the knowledges of good and truth, by which they may have spiritual life, is described by "Lift up thy hands to the Lord respecting the soul of thy babes;" and the lack of these knowledges is described by "who have fainted for famine at the head of all the streets," "famine" meaning lack, "streets" the truths of doctrine, "to faint at the head of them" meaning that there are no truths.
[15] In the same:
Servants have ruled over us, there is no one to free us out of their hand. We bring in our bread with the peril of our souls because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skins are black like an oven because of the tempests of famine (Lamentations 5:8-10).
"Servants that have ruled with no one to free us out of their hand" signify the evils of life and the falsities of doctrine, in general, evil loves and false principles; "we bring in our bread with the peril of our souls because of the sword of the wilderness" signifies that there is no good from which there may be spiritual life itself, because of the falsity everywhere reigning; "bread" means the good from which there may be spiritual life; "sword" falsity destroying; and "the wilderness" where there is no good because no truth; for all good with man is formed by truths, therefore where there are no truths but only falsities there is no good; "our skins are black like an oven because of the tempests of famine" signifies that because of the lack of the knowledges of good and truth the natural man is in its own evil love; "the skin," from correspondence with the Greatest Man or heaven, signifies the natural man; "to be black like an oven" signifies to be in one's own evil from falsities; and "tempests of famine" signify a complete lack of the knowledges of good and truth.
[16] In Luke:
Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger (Arcana Coelestia 1992, 3667, 4572, 5628, 6229). "The famine in which he shall be redeemed" signifies temptation in respect to the perception of good, in which he shall be delivered from evil; "to redeem" meaning to deliver; and "the hand of the sword in war" signifies temptations in respect to the understanding of truth, "war" also meaning temptation or combat against falsities.
[17] 3. That "famine" in the Word also signifies ignorance of the knowledges of truth and good, such as are with those who know that there are knowledges and therefore desire them, is evident from the following passages. In Matthew:
Blessed are they that hunger after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Matthew 5:6).
"To hunger after righteousness" signifies to desire good, for in the Word "righteousness" is predicated of good. In Luke:
God hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away (Luke 1:53).
"The hungry" are those who are ignorant of the knowledges of truth and good, and yet desire them; and "the rich" are those who have an abundance of them, but no desire for them. That the former are enriched is signified by "God hath filled them with good things;" and that the latter are deprived of them is signified by "The rich He hath sent away empty."
[18] In David:
Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him, to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine (Psalms 33:18-19).
"Those that fear Jehovah" mean those who love to do His commandments; "to deliver the soul from death" signifies from evils and falsities, and thus from damnation; and "to keep them alive in famine" signifies to give spiritual life according to desire. A desire for the knowledges of truth and good is a spiritual affection of truth, which is given only to those who are in the good of life, that is, who do the Lord's commandments; and these, as has been said, are meant by "those that fear Jehovah."
[19] In the same:
Let them confess to Jehovah His mercy, for He satisfieth the longing soul, and the hungry soul He filleth with good (278)
[20] In the same:
Jehovah who executeth judgment for the oppressed; who giveth bread to the hungry; Jehovah, who looseth the bound (Arcana Coelestia 5037 Arcana Coelestia 5037[1-6], 5086, 5096) tia, n. 5037, 5086, 5096.)
[21] In the same:
Jehovah turneth the wilderness into a pool of waters, and a land of drought into a springing forth of waters. And there He maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city of habitation, and sow fields, and plant vineyards, and make fruit of increase (Psalms 107:35-37).
The meaning of these words is wholly different from the sense of the letter, namely, that those who are ignorant of the knowledges of truth and yet desire to know them shall be enriched and abundantly supplied with them; for "Jehovah turneth the wilderness into a pool of water" signifies that in place of ignorance of truth there shall be abundance of truth, "wilderness" meaning when there is ignorance of truth, and "a pool of waters" abundance of it; "to turn a land of drought into a springing forth of waters" signifies the like in the natural man, for "a land of drought" means where there is ignorance of truth, "the springing forth of waters" is abundance, the natural man is "the springing forth," and "waters" are truths; "there He maketh the hungry to dwell" signifies those who desire truth, "to dwell" meaning to live, and "the hungry" those who desire; "that they may prepare a city of habitation" signifies that they form for themselves a doctrine of life, "city" meaning doctrine, and "habitation" life; "that they may sow fields and plant vineyards, and make fruit of increase," signifies to receive truths, to understand them, and to do them; "to sow fields" meaning to be instructed and to receive truths; "to plant vineyards" meaning to receive truths in the understanding, that is, in the spirit, for "vineyards" mean spiritual truths; therefore "to plant" them means to receive them spiritually, that is, to understand them; "to make fruit of increase" means to do them and to receive goods, for "fruits" are the deeds and goods of charity.
[22] In the same:
Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect, and He shall be their inheritance forever. They shall not be ashamed in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied (Psalms 37:18-19).
"The days of the perfect" signify the states of those who are in good and in truths therefrom, or those who are in charity and in faith therefrom. "Jehovah shall be their inheritance forever" signifies that they are His own and are in heaven; "they shall not be ashamed in the time of evil" signifies that they shall conquer when they are tempted by evils; and "in the days of famine they shall be satisfied" signifies that they shall be upheld by truths when they are tempted and infested by falsities, "time of evil" and "days of famine" signifying the states of temptations, and temptations are from evils and falsities.
[23] In the first book of Samuel:
The bows of the mighty are broken, but they who had stumbled have girded strength about them; they that are full have hired themselves for bread; and they that are hungry have ceased; even until the barren hath borne seven, and she that hath many sons hath failed (257, 357).
[24] In Isaiah:
For the fool speaketh foolishness, and his heart doeth iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to speak error against Jehovah, to make empty the hungry soul, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail (Isaiah 32:6).
He is here called "a fool" who is in falsities and evils from the love of self, consequently from self-intelligence. Falsities are meant by the "foolishness" that he speaks; and evils by the "iniquity" that his heart does. The evils that he speaks against goods are meant by "the hypocrisy" that he practices; and the falsities that he speaks against truths, by the "error" that he speaks against Jehovah; "to make empty the hungry soul, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail" means to persuade and destroy those who desire goods and truths, "the hungry soul" meaning those who desire goods, and "he that thirsteth for drink" meaning those who desire truths.
[25] In the same:
If thou shalt draw out thy soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, thy light shall arise in darkness and thy thick darkness be as the noonday (Isaiah 58:10).
This describes charity towards the neighbor, here towards those who are in ignorance, but at the same time in a desire to know truths, and in grief on account of the falsities that possess them, and signifies that with those who are in such charity falsities are dispersed and truths shine and become radiant. Charity towards those that are in ignorance and at the same time in a desire to know truths is meant by "If thou shalt draw out thy soul to the hungry," "the hungry" meaning those who desire, and "the soul" is the understanding of truth instructing. This being done to those who are in grief because of the falsities that possess them is meant by "if thou shalt satisfy the afflicted soul;" that ignorance is dispelled and truths shine and become radiant with those who are in such charity is meant by "thy light shall arise in darkness, and thy thick darkness be as the noon day;" "darkness" signifying the ignorance of the spiritual mind, and "thick darkness" the ignorance of the natural mind, "light" truth in light, "noonday" the like. Such illustration those have who from charity or spiritual affection instruct such as are in falsities from ignorance; for such charity is a receptacle of the influx of light or of truth from the Lord.
[26] In the same:
Is not this the fast that I choose, to break thy bread to the hungry, and to bring the afflicted outcasts into thy house, when thou shalt see the naked and shalt cover him? (195).
[27] In the same:
They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun smite them; for He that hath compassion on them leadeth them forth, even unto the springs of waters shall He guide them (Isaiah 49:10).
That "they shall not hunger nor thirst" does not mean that they are not to hunger nor thirst for natural food and drink; and "neither shall the heat nor sun smite them" does not mean that they will not become heated by these; the same is true of their being led unto the springs of waters. Who that thinks about it does not see that something else is here meant? "To hunger and thirst" therefore signifies to hunger and thirst for such things as pertain to eternal life or give that life, and these, in general, have reference to the good of love and the truth of faith, "hunger" to the good of love, and "thirst" to the truth of faith; "heat" and "sun" signify the heat from the principles of falsity and the love of evil, for these take away all spiritual hunger and thirst; "the springs of waters, unto which the Lord will guide them" signify illustration in all truth, "spring" or "fountain" meaning the Word, and also the doctrine from the Word, "waters" truths, and "to guide" in reference to the Lord, meaning to illustrate. From this the significance can be seen of the Lord's words in John:
I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst (John 6:35).
Here evidently "to hunger" is to come to the Lord, and "to thirst" is to believe on Him; to come to the Lord is to do His commandments.
[28] This signification of "hungering and thirsting" makes evident also the signification of the Lord's words in Matthew:
The king said to them on the right hand, I was an hungered, and ye gave me to eat, I was thirsty and ye gave me to drink, I was a sojourner and ye took me in. And he said to them on the left hand, that he was an hungered and they gave him not to eat, and he was thirsty and they gave him not to drink; that he was a sojourner and they took him not in (Arcana Coelestia 1463 Arcana Coelestia 1463[1-3], 4444, 7908, 8007, 8013, 9196).
Furthermore, we read in the Word that the Lord hungered and thirsted, which means that from His Divine love He willed and desired the salvation of the human race.
[29] That He hungered we read in Mark:
When they were come from Bethany, Jesus hungered; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find anything thereon; but when He had come to it He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Therefore He said unto it, No one eat any fruit of thee forever. And the disciples in the morning as they passed by, saw the fig-tree dried up from the roots (Arcana Coelestia 217, 4231, 5113; and that "leaves" signify the truths of the natural man, see above, n. 109.)
[30] That the Lord thirsted we read in John:
Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled said, I thirst. And there had been placed a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge and placed it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. And when Jesus had received the vinegar He said, It is finished (Arcana Coelestia 7918). That every particular related in the Word respecting the Lord's passion involves and signifies Divine celestial and Divine spiritual things, may be seen above n. 83. From the passages cited above it can be seen what "famine" signifies in the Word. Let them be examined and considered, and it will be seen by those who are in any interior thought that natural famine, hunger, and thirst, can by no means be meant, but spiritual famine, hunger, and thirst.
Footnotes:
1. The photolithograph has "Jehovah," as is also found in AE 440. Hebrew has "Judah," which is also found in AC 5354.
2. The photolithograph has "fall."
3. The photolithograph has "his." Hebrew "their (sons," and "their men").
386. "Et in fame." - Quod significet perprivationem, defectum et ignorantiam cognitionum veri et boni, constat ex significatione "famis", quod sit privatio cognitionum veri et boni, tum defectus ac ignorantia earum; haec significantur per "famem" in Verbo. Quod haec per "famem" significentur, est quia per "cibum et potum" significantur omnia quae nutriunt et sustentant vitam spiritualem, quae in genere sunt cognitiones veri et boni. Ipsa vita spiritualis aeque sua nutritione et sustentatione eget prout vita naturalis; quare illa "in fame" dicitur esse, quando homo deprivatur illis, aut quando deficiunt, aut quando ignorantur et usque desiderantur; etiam cibi naturales correspondent cibis spiritualibus, sicut panis bono amoris, vinum veris inde, ac reliqui cibi et potus in specie suis bonis et veris, de quibus passim actum est in praecedentibus et agetur in sequentibus. Dicitur quod "fames" significet (1) deprivationem cognitionum veri et boni, tum (2) defectum, et (3) ignorantiam eorum, quia deprivatio est apud illos qui in malis et inde falsis sunt, defectus apud illos qui non possunt scire illas quia non sunt in ecclesia seu in doctrina ejus, et ignorantia apud illos qui sciunt quod sint, et inde desiderant illas. Haec tria per "famem" in Verbo significantur, ut constare potest a locis ibi ubi "fames", "esurientes", "sitis" et "sitientes" nominantur.
[2] (1) Quod "fames" significet deprivationem cognitionum veri et boni quae est apud illos qui in malis et inde falsis sunt, constat a sequentibus:
Apud Esaiam,
"In excandescentia Jehovae Zebaoth obscurata est terra, factusque estpopulus (sicut) cibus ignis, vir fratri suo non parcet; et si deciderit ad dextram, esuriet tamen, et si 1
comederit ad sinistram, non satubuntur, vir carnem brachii sui comedent, Menascheh Ephraimum, et Ephraimus Menaschen, una illi contra" 2
Jehovam (9:18-20 [B.A. 19-21]):
haec nemo intellecturus est nisi ex sensu interno, immo nec de qua re agitur. Agitur ibi de exstinctione boni perfalsum, ac veri per malum; perversio ecclesiae per falsum intelligitur per "in excandescentia Jehovae Zebaoth obscurata est terra", et perversio ejus per malum intelligitur per "factus est populus (sicut) cibus ignis"; "obscurata terra" significat ecclesiam ubi non verum sed falsum; et "cibus ignis significat consumptionem ejus ab amore mali ("ignis" est amor mali): quod falsum destruet bonum intelligitur per "vir fratri suo non parcet"; "vir" et "frater" significat verum et bonum, hic "vir" falsum et "frater" bonum, quia dicitur quod ei "non parcet": quod inde deprivatio omnis boni et omnis veri utcunque inquirit, intelligitur per "si deciderit ad dextram esuriet tamen, et si 3
comederit ad sinistram non saturabuntur"; "dextra" significat bonum ex quo verum, et "sinistra" verum ex bono, " 4
caedere" et "comedere" ad illas significat inquirere, ac "esurire et non saturari" est deprivari: quod malum exstinguat omne verum, et falsum omne bonum, intelligitur per "vir carnem brachii sui comedent"; "caro brachii" est potentia boni per verum, "Vir" est falsum, et "comedere" est exstinguere; quod inde omnis voluntas boni ac intellectus veri pereat, intelligitur per "Menascheh comedet Ephraimum et Ephraimus Menaschen"; (quod "Menascheh" sit voluntas boni, ac "Ephraim" intellectus veri, videatur n. 3969, 5354, 6222, 6234, 6238, 6267, 6296); quod haec illis sint qui in malis et falsis, intelligitur per "una illi contra 5
Jehovam, nam cum voluntas in bono est ac intellectus in vero, tunc cum Jehovah sunt, quia utrumque ab Ipso, at cum voluntas in malo est et intellectus in falso, tunc contra Jehovam sunt.
[3] Apud eundem,
"Ne laeteris, Philisthaea tota, quod fracta sit virga percutiens te, nam a radice serpentis exibit basiliscus, cujus fructus prester volans;... occidam fame radicem tuam, et residuos tuos occidet" (14:29, 30):
similia paene per haec in sensu interno intelliguntur, sed agitur hic de illis qui credunt solum visum interiorem naturalis hominis esse fidem, et per hanc seu per illum justificari et salvari, negantes sic quod bonum charitatis aliquid efficiat; illi qui tales sunt intelliguntur per "Philisthaeos", et coetus eorum per "Philisthaeam" (videatur n. 3412, 3413, 8093, 8313). Quod principium id falsum, quod est sola fides, seu fides separata a charitate, destruat omne bonum et verum ecclesiae, intelligitur per "A radice serpentis exibit basiliscus"; "radix serpentis" est principium illud falsum, et "basiliscus" est destructio boni et veri ecclesiae per illud: quod inde oriatur ratiocinatio ex meris falsis, intelligitur per "cujus fructus prester volans"; "prester volans" est ratiocinatio ex falsis: deprivatio omnis veri et inde omnis boni, intelligitur per "Occidam fame radicem tuam, et fames residuos tuos occidet"; "fames" est deprivatio veri et boni, et "residui" sunt omnia quae ex eo principio excluduntur. Quod haec intelligantur, patuit etiam ab ipsa experientia; illi qui in principio de sola fide se confirmaverunt doctrina et vita, in mundo spirituali visi sunt sicut basilisci, et ratiocinationes eorum sicut presteres volantes.
[4] Apud eundem,
Qui format deum, et fusile fundit, et non prodest, ... "fabricat ferrum forcipe, et operatur carbone, et malleis acutis format illud: sic operatur illud per brachium roboris sui, etiam esurit usque dum non robur, neque bibit... usque dum fatigatur" (44:10, 12):
per haec describitur formatio doctrinae ex proprio tam intellectu quam amore; per "formare deum" significatur doctrina ex proprio intellectu, et per "fundere fusile" ex proprio amore: per "fabricat ferrum forcipe et operatur carbone" significatur falsum quod vocat verum, et malum quod vocat bonum; "ferrum" est falsum, et "ignis carbonis" est malum amoris proprii: per "malleis acutis format illud" significatur per ratiocinia ex falsis ingeniosa, ut appareant cohaerere; per "sic operatur illud per brachium roboris sui" significatur ex proprio; per "etiam esurit usque dum non robur, neque bibit usque dum fatigatur", significatur quod nusquam aliquid boni, nec aliquid veri; "esurire" significat deprivationem boni, ac "non bibere" deprivationem veri, ac "usque dum non robur" et "usque dum fatigatur", significat quod usque dum nihil boni et nihil veri maneat. Quis, qui ex solo sensu litterae videt Verbum, aliter scit, quam quod formatio fusilis hic describatur? Sed usque videre potest quod talis descriptio formationis fusilis non aliquid spirituale involvat, tum quod superfluum sit dicere quod "etiam esuriat usque dum non robur, neque bibat usque dum fatigatur"; at in Verbo non solum hic sed etiam alibi passim describitur formatio religionis et doctrinae falsi per "idola", "sculptilia" et "fusilia" (quae quod significent falsa religionis et doctrinae oriunda ex proprio intellectu et ex proprio amore, videatur n. 8869, 8932, 8941, ( 9424, 10406, 10503).
[5] Apud eundem,
"Duo haec obvenerunt tibi, quis condoleat tibi? devastatio et confractio, et fames et gladius" (51:19):
hic quoque per "famem" intelligitur deprivatio cognitionum boni, usque dum non bonum ampliuS; et per "gladium" deprivatio cognitionum veri, usque dum non verum amplius: quare etiam dicitur "devastatio" et "confractio"; "devastatio significat quod non bonum amplius, et "confractio" quod non verum amplius.
[6] Apud eundem,
"Sic dixit Dominus Jehovih, Ecce servi mei comedent, vos autem esurietis; (ecce) servi mei bibent, vos autem sitietis; ecce servi mei laetabuntur, vos autem pudefietis" (65:13):
per "esurire et sitire" hic quoque intelligitur deprivari bono amoris et veris fidei, per "esurire" deprivari bono amoris, et per "sitire" deprivari veris fidei; per "comedere et bibere" significatur communicari et appropriari bona et vera, ac per "servos Domini Jehovih" illi qui recipiunt bona et vera a Domino: inde patet quid significatur per "Ecce servi mei comedent, vos autem esurietis; servi mei bibent, vos autem sitietis": quod illis felicitas aeterna, his autem in felicitas, significatur per "Ecce servi mei laetabuntur, vos autem pudefietis."
[7] Apud Jeremiam,
"Gladio, fame et peste Ego consumens eos: dixi tamen, Ah, Domine Jehovih, ecce prophetae dicunt iis, Non videbitis gladium, et fames non erit vobis:... quare sic dixit Jehovah contra prophetas prophetantes in nomine meo, cum non miserim eos, illi tamen dicentes, Gladius et fames non erit in terra hac; Gladio et fame consumentur prophetae hi; populus, quibus illi prophetantes, erunt abjecti in plateis Hierosolymae, ... nec sepeliens iis" (14:12, 13, 15, 16):
per "gladium, famem et pestem", significatur deprivatio veri et boni, et inde vitae spiritualis per falsa et mala; per "gladium" deprivatio veri per falsa, per "famem" deprivatio boni per mala, et per "pestem" deprivatio vitae spiritualis: per "prophetas" intelliguntur illi qui docent vera doctrinae, et in sensu abstracto doctrinalia veri; inde patet quid per omnia illa significatur, nempe quod qui doctrinam falsi et mali docent, perituri sint per ea quae significantur per "gladium" et "famem": quod etiam illi qui recipiunt eam doctrinam ex illis ab omni ecclesiae vero separati sint et damnati, significatur per quod "erunt abjecti in plateis Hierosolymae, nec sepeliens iis"; "plateae Hierosolymae" sunt vera ecclesiae, "abjici in illis" est separari a veris illis, et "non sepeliri" est damnari.
[8] Similia per "gladium", "famem" et "pestem " significantur in sequentibus his locis, nempe per "gladium" deprivatio veri per falsa, per "famem" deprivatio boni per mala, et per "pestem "consumptio et deprivatio vitae spiritualis inde:
Apud Jeremiam,
"Gladio et fame consumentur, ut fiat cadaver eorum in cibum avibus caelorum et bestiae terrae" (16:4):
"cadaver in cibum avibus caelorum" significat damnationem per falsa, et "in cibum bestiae terrae" damnationem per mala.
Apud eundem,
"Abnegarunt Jehovam quando dixerunt, Non Ille, neque Veniet super nos malum, ac gladium famemque non videbimus" (5:12):
apud eundem,
"Ecce Ego visitans super iis, juvenes morientur gladio, filii eorum et filiae eorum morientur fame" (11:22):
apud eundem,
"Da filios 6
eorum fami, et defluere fac illos super manus gladii, ut fiant uxores orbae et viduae, et homines 7
eorum fiant occisi morte, juvenes eorum percussi gladio in bello" (18:21):
apud eundem,
"Mittam in eos gladium, famem, et pestem, et dabo eos sicut ficus horridas, quae non comedi possunt prae malitia, et persequar post eos gladio, fame et peste" (29:17, 18):
apud eundem,
"Mittam in eos gladium, famem et pestem, donec consumuntur desuper terra quam dedi illis et patribus eorum" (24:10):
apud eundem,
"Ego proclamo vobis libertatem ad gladium, ad pestem et ad famem, et tradam vos in commotionem omnibus regnis terrae" (34:17):
apud Evangelistas,
"Excitabitur gens contra gentem, et regnum contra regnum, et erunt pestes et fames et terrae motus variis locis" (Matthaeus 24:7, 8; Marcus 13:8; Luca 21:11):
apud Ezechielem,
"Quia sanctuarium meum polluisti, ... tertia pars tui peste morientur, et fame consumentur in medio tui, et tertia pars gladio cadent circa te, et tertiam partem in omnem ventum dispergam... Quum misero tela famis mala in eos, 8
quae erunt in perditionem; dum misero ea ad perdendum vos; quin famem addidero super vos, donec fregero vobis baculum panis. Et mittam super vos famem et feram malam, et orbam faciam te, et pestis et sanguis transibit per te" (5:11, 12, 16, 17):
apud eundem,
"Gladius foris, et pestis atque fames intus; qui in agro, gladio morietur; qui vero in urbe, eum fames et pestis consument" (7:15):
apud eundem,
"Propter omnes abominationes malas, ... per gladium, per famem et per pestem cadent; qui procul peste morietur, qui propinquus gladio cadet, et residuus et reservatus fame morietur" (6:11, 12).
Apud Jeremiam,
"Quod si dicitis, Nos non habitabimus in terra hac, ut non obediatis voci Jehovae Dei vestri; (dicendo, ) Non, sed (in) terram Aegypti veniemus, ubi non videbimus bellum, et vocem buccinae non audiemus, et panem non esuriemus, et ibi habitabimus:... Audite verbum Jehovae, ... si vos ponendo posueritis facies vestras ad veniendum (in) Aegyptum, et veneritis ad peregrinandum ibi, fiet, gladius, a quo timetis vos, ibi prehendet vos in terra Aegypti; et fames, de qua Vos solliciti estis, ibi adhaerebit post vos in Aegypto; et ibi moriemini:... ac morituri ibi gladio, fame et peste, nec erit illis residuus... propter malum, quod Ego adducens super 9
vos;... et eritis in maledictionem et stuporem... et in opprobrium, neque videbitis amplius locum hunc:... jam ergo sciendo scietis quod gladio, fame ac peste morituri sitis in loco quo voluistis venire ad peregrinandum ibi" (42:13, 14, [15,] 16-18, 22; 44:12, 13, 27):
per "Aegyptum" hic significatur naturale, et per "venire in Aegyptum et peregrinari ibi" significatur fieri naturalis; (quod "Aegyptus" sit scientificum quod naturalis hominis, et quod inde sit naturale, ac "terra Aegypti" mens naturalis, videatur n. 4967, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5276, 5278, 5280, 5288, 5301, 10
5160, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7353, 7648, 9340, 9391; quod "peregrinari" sit instrui vivere 1463, 2025, 3672); ex his constare potest quid in sensu spirituali significatur per quod "non venturi sint in Aegyptum", et quod tunc "gladio, fame et peste morituri sint"; quod nempe si mere naturales fierent, deprivarentur omni vero, bono ac vita spirituali; naturalis enim homo separatus a spirituali in falsis et malis est, et inde in vita infernali; (quod naturalis homo separatus a spirituali talis sit, videatur in Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae, n. 47, 48); ideo dicitur quod si eo venerint, "futuri sint in maledictionem et stuporem inque opprobrium, neque visuri locum hunc"; per "locum quem non visuri" intelligitur status hominis spiritualis, simile quod per "terram Canaanem." Talia etiam significantur per murmurationes filiorum Israelis in deserto, quod toties redire voluerint in Aegyptum; quare etiam data illis est manna, per quam significatur nutritio spiritualis (Exodus 16:2, 3, 7-9, 22).
[9] Apud Ezechielem,
"Quando 11
extendero manum meam contra" domum Israelis, "ut frangam illi baculum panis, et mittam in eam famem, exscindamque ex, ea hominem et bestiam;... quando feram malam transire fecero per terram, et orbaverit illam, ut fiat desolatio;... quando quatuor judicia mea mala, gladium et famem et feram malam et pestem misero super Hierosolymam, ad exscindendum ex ea hominem et bestiam" (14:13, 15, 21):
per haec describitur vastatio ecclesiae; "domus Israelis et "Hierosolyma" est ecclesia; per "frangere baculum panis" significatur destruere omne caeleste et spirituale per quae nutrienda, "panis" enim involvit omne caeli et ecclesiae, seu omnem nutritionem spiritualem; et per "exscindere hominem et bestiam" significatur omnem affectionem spiritualem et naturalem; quare per" gladium, famem, feram malam et pestem", significatur destructio veri per falsum, boni per malum, affectionis veri et boni per cupiditates oriundas ex amoribus malis, et inde exstinctio vitae spiritualis. Haec vocantur "quatuor judicia mala", quae etiam intelliguntur per "gladium, famem, mortem et feram malam" in hoc versu Apocalypseos; quod sit vastatio ecclesiae quae ita describitur, patet.
[10] Tria mala quae significantur per "famem, gladium et pestem", etiam annuntiata sunt Davidi a Gade propheta, postquam numeraverat populum (2 Samuelis 24:13):
cur illa Davidi denuntiata sint propterea quod numeraverit populum, nemo scire potest nisi qui scit quod populus Israelis repraesentaverit et inde significaverit ecclesiam quoad omnia ejus vera et bona, et quod "numerare" significet scire quale ejus, et dein secundum id ordinare et disponere illa; hoc quia nemo scit et facit quam solus Dominus, et quia homo qui id facit se deprivat omni bono et vero ac vita spirituali, ideo quia David id fecit repraesentative, ei tria illa proponebantur ex quo unum eligeret. Quis non videt quod nihil mali in numerando populo fuerit, et quod malum, propter quod David et populus punitus est, latuerit interius, nempe in repraesentativis, in quibus tunc ecclesia fuit? In allatis his locis "fames" significat deprivationem cognitionum veri et boni, et inde deprivationem omnis veri et boni.
[11] (2) Quod etiam "fames" significet defectum eorum, qui est apud illos qui non possunt scire illa, quia non sunt in ecclesia seu in doctrina ejus, constat ex sequentibus his locis:
Apud Amos,
"Ecce dies venturi... quibus immittam famem in terram, non famem ad panem, neque sitim ad aquas, sed ad audiendum verba Jehovae: ut vagentur a mari ad mare, a septentrione ad orientem, discursitent ad quaerendum verbum Jehovae, nec invenient: in die illo deficient virgines pulchrae et juvenes siti" (8:11-14):
hic explicatur quid intelligitur per "famem" et per"sitim", quod nempe non intelligatur fames ad panem, nec sitis ad aquas, sed ad audiendum verbum Jehovae, ita quod sit defectus cognitionum boni et veri qui intelligitur; et quod illae non sint in ecclesia seu in doctrina ejus, describitur per quod "venturi a mari ad mare, et a septentrione ad orientem ad quaerendum verbum Jehovae, nec invenient"; "amari ad mare" significat undequaque, nam sicut maria apparent ultimi termini in mundo spirituali, ubi incohant et terminantur vera et bona; quare "maria" in Verbo significant cognitiones veri et boni, ac scientifica in communi: "a septentrione ad orientem" etiam significat undequaque ubi verum et bonum; "septentrio" est ubi verum est in obscuro, et "oriens" est ubi bonum: quia defectus cognitionum boni et veri significatur per "famem et sitim", ideo quoque dicitur, "In die illo deficient virgines pulchrae et juvenes siti"; "virgines pulchrae" sunt affectiones veri ex bono, et "juvenes" sunt ipsa vera quae ex bono, "sitis" qua deficient est defectus earum.
(Quod "virgines" significent affectiones boni et veri, videatur n. 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775; 12
6788; et quod "juvenes" ipsa vera et intelligentiam, n. 7668.)
[12] Apud Esaiam,
"Propterea exulabit populus meus ob non scientiam, et gloria ejus homines famis, et multitudo ejus sicca siti" (5:13):
desolatio aut interitus ecclesiae ob non cognitiones boni et veri, significatur per "Exulabit populus meus ob non scientiam"; Divinum Verum quod facit ecclesiam significatur per "gloriam"; quod id non sit, et inde non bonum, significatur per quod "gloria ejus sint homines famis"; "homines famis" sunt qui in nulla perceptione boni et in nullis cognitionibus veri: et quod inde non verum, significatur per quod "multitudo ejus sit sicca siti"; "sicca siti" est defectus veri, ac "multitudo" in Verbo praedicatur de veris.
[13] Apud eundem,
"Populus Deum suum quaeret, ... legem et testimonium;... nam transibit eam perplexus et famelicus; fietque cum esuriverit, indignabitur, et maledicet regi suo et diis suis, et suspiciet sursum; ad terram etiam spectabit, sed ecce angustia et caligo" (8:19-22):
agitur ibi de illis qui in falsis sunt ex defectu cognitionum veri et boni, et de indignatione eorum propterea; defectus describitur per quod "suspiciet sursum, et ad terram etiam spectabit, sed ecce angustia et caligo"; "suspicere sursum et spectare ad terram" est undequaque ubi bona et vera sunt, sed "ecce angustia et caligo" est quod non illa alicubi sint, sed mera falsa ("caligo" est densum falsum): indignatio eorum propterea describitur per "fiet cum esuriverit, indignabitur, et maledicet regi suo et diis suis"; "esurire" est velle scire, "rex" est falsum, "dii" sunt falsa cultus inde, et "maledicere" est detestari.
[14] In Threnis,
"Tolle ad" Dominum "manus tuas super animam infantum tuorum, qui defecerunt per famem in capite omnium platearum" (2:19):
lamentatio super illis qui instruendi sunt in cognitionibus boni et veri, per quas illis vita spiritualis, describitur per "Tolle ad Dominum manus tuas super animam infantum tuorum"; ac defectus cognitionum illarum describitur per "Defecerunt per famem in capite omnium platearum"; "fames" est defectus, "plateae" sunt vera doctrinae, "defici in capite illarum" est quod non sint.
[15] Ibidem,
"Servi dominati sunt in nos, nec liberans e manu eorum, cum periculo animarum nostrarum adducimus panem nostrum propter gladium deserti; cutes nostrae sicut clibanus denigratae sunt propter procellas famis" (5:8-10):
per "servos" qui dominati nec liberans e manu eorum, significantur mala vitae et falsa doctrinae, in genere amores mali et principia falsa: "cum periculo animarum nostrarum adducimus panem nostrum propter gladium deserti", significat quod non bonum ex quo ipsa vita spiritualis propter falsum ubique regnans; "panis" est bonum ex quo vita spiritualis, "gladius" est falsum destruens, et "desertum" est ubi non bonum quia non verum; omne enim bonum apud hominem formatur per vera, quare ubi non vera sed falsa, non datur bonum: "cutes nostrae sicut clibanus denigratae sunt propter procellas famis" significat quod propter defectum cognitionum boni et veri, naturalis homo in suo amore malo sit ; "cutis" ex correspondentia cum Maximo Homine seu caelo significat naturalem hominem; "denigrari sicut clibanus" significat in suo malo ex falsis esse, ac "procellae famis significant summum defectum cognitionum boni et veri.
[16] Apud Lucam,
"Vae vobis qui impleti estis, quia esurietis" (6:25):
per "impletos" in Verbo intelliguntur qui Verbum habent, ubi omnes cognitiones boni et veri, et per "esurire intelligitur in defectu illarum esse, et quoque deprivari illis.
Apud Hiobum,
"Beatus homo quem castigavit Deus; et disciplinam Schaddai ne repudies;... in fame redimet te a morte, et in bello e manibus gladii" (5:17, 20):
haec de illis qui in tentationibus; tentationes significantur per "quem castigavit Deus", et per "disciplinam Schaddai"; per "Schaddai" etiam significantur tentationes, liberatio ab illis, et consolatio post illas (videatur n. 1992, 3667, 4572, 5628, 6229): "fames in qua redimetur" significat tentationem quoad perceptionem boni, in qua liberabitur a malo; "redimere" est liberare: et "manus gladii in bello" significat tentationem quoad intellectum veri; "bellum" etiam est tentatio, seu pugna contra falsa.
[17] (3) Quod etiam "fames" in Verbo significet ignorantiam cognitionum veri et boni, qualis est apud illos qui sciunt quod sint, et inde desiderant illas, constat ex sequentibus his locis:
Apud Matthaeum,
"Beati qui esuriunt... justitiam, quia illi saturabuntur" (5:6):
"esurire justitiam" significat desiderare bonum, nam in Verbo "justitia" dicitur de bono.
Apud Lucam,
Deus "esurientes implevit bonis, et divites emisit inanes" (1:53):
"esurientes" pro illis qui in ignorantia cognitionum veri et boni sunt, et usque in desiderio; et "divites" pro illis qui in abundantia illarum sunt, et in nullo desiderio: quod illi locupletentur significatur per Deus "implet illos bonis"; et quod hi depriventur significatur per Deus "divites emittit inanes."
[18] Apud Davidem,
"Ecce oculus Jehovah super timentibus Ipsum, ... ad eripiendum a morte animam eorum, et ad vivificandum eos in fame" (Psalms 33:18, 19):
per "timentes Jehovam" intelliguntur qui amant facere praecepta Ipsius; per "eripere animam a morte" significatur a malis et falsis, et inde a damnatione; et per "vivificare in fame" significatur secundum desiderium dare vitam spiritualem: desiderium ad cognitiones veri et boni est affectio veri spiritualis, quae datur solum apud illos qui in bono vitae sunt, hoc est, qui faciunt praecepta Domini, qui, ut dictum est, intelliguntur per "timenteS Jehovam."
[19] Apud eundem,
"Confiteantur Jehovae misericordiam Ipsius, ... quod saturet animam appetentem, et animam esurientem impleat bono" (Psalms 107:8, 9):
"saturare animam appetentem, et implere bono animam esurientem", pro illos qui desiderant vera et bona; "anima appetens" significat illos qui desiderant vera, et "anima esuriens" illos qui desiderant bona.
Apud eundem,
"Non defectus timentibus" Jehovam; "leones juvenes egebunt et esurient, sed quaerentes Jehovam non egebunt ullo bono" (Psalms 34:10, 11 [B.A. 9, [10]):
"timentes Jehovam", quibus non defectus, etiam hic significant illos qui amant facere praecepta Domini; et "quaerentes Jehovam", qui non egebunt ullo bono, significant illos qui ideo amantur a Domino et ab Ipso accipiunt vera et bona; "leones juvenes", qui egebunt et esurient, significant illos qui a semet sciunt et sapiunt; "egere et esurire" est quod illis non verum nec bonum. (Quid "leones" in utroque sensu, videatur n 278 (b, c).)
[20] Apud eundem,
Jehovah "qui facit judicium oppressis, qui dat panem esurientibus, Jehovah qui solvit vinctos" (Psalms 146:7):
per "oppressos" hic intelliguntur qui in falsis ex ignorantia sunt; oppressio eorum est a spiritibus qui in falsis; ideo dicitur Jehovah "facit judicium illis", vindicando illos ab opprimentibus: per "esurientes" intelliguntur qui desiderant bona, quos quia nutrit Dominus, dicitur "Jehovah dat panem esurientibus"; "dare panem" est nutrire, et nutritio spiritualis est scientia, intelligentia et sapientia: et per "vinctos" intelliguntur qui desiderant vera, sed ab illis detinentur per falsa doctrinae, vel per ignorantiam quia non habent Verbum; quare "solvere vinctos" est liberare ab illis.
(Quod "vincti" illi dicantur, videatur n. 5037, 5086, 5096.)
[21] Apud eundem,
Jehovah "ponit desertum in stagnum aquarum, et terram siccitatis in exitus aquarum, et facit ibi habitare esurientes, ut erigant urbem habitationis, et serant agros, et plantent vineas et faciant fructum proventus" (Psalms 107:35-37):
haec prorsus aliter intelligenda sunt quam secundum sensum litterae, ita nempe, quod qui in ignorantia cognitionum veri sunt, et tamen in desiderio sciendi illas, valde ditentur et locupletentur; nam per quod Jehovah "ponat desertum in stagnum aquarum" significatur ubi ignorantia veri ibi erit abundantia; "desertum" est ubi ignorantia veri, "stagnum aquarum" est abundantia ejus: per quod "ponat terram siccitatis in exitus aquarum" significantur similia in naturali homine; "terra siccitatis" enim est ubi ignorantia veri, "exitus aquarum" est abundantia, naturalis homo est "exitus", et "aquae" sunt vera: quod "faciat ibi habitare esurientes" significat quod illos qui in desiderio veri sunt; "habitare" est vivere, "esurientes" sunt qui desiderant: "ut erigant urbem habitationis" significat ut faciant sibi doctrinam vitae; "urbs" est doctrina, et "habitatio" est vita: "ut serant agros, plantent vineas, et ferant fructum proventus", significat recipere vera, intelligere illa, et facere illa; "serere agros" est instrui et recipere vera, "plantare vineas" est recipere illa intellectu, hoc est, spiritu; "vineae" enim sunt vera spiritualia, inde "plantare" illas est spiritualiter illa recipere, hoc est, intelligere; "ferre fructum proventus" est facere illa et recipere bona, "fructus" enim sunt facta et bona charitatis.
[22] Apud eundem,
"Cognoscit Jehovah dies integrorum, et hereditas eorum in aeternum erit; non pudefient in tempore mali, et in diebus famis satiabuntur" (Psalms 37:18, 19):
"dies integrorum" significant status eorum qui in bono sunt et inde veris, seu qui in charitate et inde fide; per quod "Jehovah hereditas eorum in aeternum erit significatur quod Ipsius proprii sint et in caelo; per "non pudefient in tempore mali" significatur quod vincent cum tentantur a malis; et per quod "in diebus famis satiabuntur" significatur quod sustentabuntur a veris cum tentantur et infestantur a falsis; "tempus mali" et "dies famis" significant status tentationum, ac tentationes sunt a malis et a falsis.
[23] In Libro Primo Samuelis,
"Arcus fortium fracti, et qui impulsi erant robur circumcinxerunt, saturi pro pane conducti, et famelici cessarunt, usque dum sterilis peperit septem, multiprolis defecit" (2:4, 5):
per "saturos pro pane conductos" et per "famelicos qui cessarunt", significantur qui volunt et desiderant bona et vera; reliqua videantur explicata supra (n. 257 et 357(d)).
[24] Apud Esaiam,
"Stultus stultitiam loquitur, at cor ejus facit iniquitatem, ad faciendum hypocrisin, et ad loquendum contra Jehovam errorem, ad evacuandum animam esurientem, et potum sitientis deficere faciat" (32:6):
"stultus" hic dicitur qui in falsis et malis est ex amore sui, proinde ex propria intelligentia; falsa intelliguntur per "stultitiam quam loquitur", et mala per "iniquitatem quam cor ejus facit"; mala quae loquitur contra bona intelliguntur per "hypocrisin" quam facit, et falsa quae loquitur contra vera per "errorem quem loquitur contra Jehovam": quod sin ad persuadendum et ad perdendum illos qui desiderant bona et vera, intelligitur per "ad evacuandum animam esurientem, et potum sitientis deficere faciat"; "anima esuriens" sunt qui desiderant bona, ac "potum sitiens" qui desiderant vera.
[25] Apud eundem,
"Si exprompseris esurienti animam tuam, et animam afflictam saturaveris, exorietur in tenebris lux tua, et caligo tua sicut meridies" ( 13
58:10):
describitur per haec charitas erga proximum, hic erga illos qui in ignorantia et simul in desiderio sciendi vera sunt, ac in dolore propter falsa quibus occupantur; et quod apud illos qui in ea charitate sunt, falsa discutiantur ac vera luceant et fulgeant: charitas erga illos qui in ignorantia et simul desiderio sciendi vera sunt, intelligitur per "Si exprompseris esurienti animam"; "esurientes" sunt qui desiderant, "anima" est intelligentia veri instruens: quod apud illos qui in dolore propter falsa quibus occupantur, intelligitur per "si animam afflictam saturaveris": quod apud illos qui in ea charitate sunt ignorantia discutiatur, ac vera luceant et fulgeant, intelligitur per "exorietur in tenebris lux tua, et caligo tua sicut meridies"; "tenebrae" significant ignorantiam mentis spiritualis, et "caligo" ignorantiam mentis naturalis, ac "lux" verum in luce, "meridies" similiter; talis illustratio est illis qui ex charitate seu ex affectione spirituali instruunt illos qui in falsis ex ignorantia sunt, charitas enim illa est receptaculum influxus lucis seu veri a Domino.
[26] Apud eundem,
"Nonne hoc jejunium quod eligo, ... frangere esurienti panem tuum, et afflictos exules introducere domum, quum videris nudum et obtexeris?" (58:6, 7):
similia per haec verba intelliguntur, nam "frangere esuririenti panem" significat ex charitate communicare et instruere illos qui in ignorantia et simul in desiderio sciendi vera sunt: "afflictos exules introducere domum" significat illos qui in falsis sunt et inde in dolore, emendare et restituere; "afflicti exules" sunt qui in dolore ex falsis, nam qui in falsis sunt foris stant, at qui in veris domi sunt, "domus" enim est mens intellectualis, in quam non nisi quam vera intromittuntur; aperitur enim illa per vera ex bono: quia haec significantur, etiam additur, "quum videris nudum et obtexeris"; per "nudum" significatur qui absque veris, et per "obtegere" significatur instruere, "vestimenta" enim in Verbo significant vera induentia (videatur supra, n. 195 14
).
[27] Apud eundem,
"Non esurient neque sitient, neque percutiet eos aestus aut sol, nam miserescens eorum ducit eos, ita ut etiam super scaturigines aquarum ducturus sit eos" (49:10):
quod "non esurient neque sitient" non significat quod non esurituri ac situri sint cibos et potus naturales; et quod "non percutiet eos aestus et sol", nec significat quod non ex illis incalituri sint; pariter quod "ducendi sint super scaturigines aquarum": quis non videt, qui intendit animum, quod alia ibi intelligantur Quare per "esurire et sitire" significatur esurire et sitire illa quae vitae aeternae sunt, seu quae dant illam, quae in genere se referunt ad bonum amoris et verum fidei; "esurire" ad bonum amoris et "sitire" ad verum fidei: "aestus" et "sol" significant incalescentiam a principiis falsi et amore mali, haec enim tollunt omnem esuritionem et sitim spiritualem: "scaturigines aquarum", super quas Dominus ducturus eos, significant illustrationem in omni vero; "scaturigo" seu "fons" est Verbum et quoque doctrina ex Verbo, "aquae" sunt vera, et "ducere", cum de Domino, est illustrare. Ex his constare potest quid significatur per Domini verba apud Johannem,
"Ego sum Panis vitae; qui venit ad Me non esuriet, et qui credit in Me non sitiet usquam" (6:35):
quod hic "esurire" sit venire ad Dominum, et quod "sitire" sit credere in Ipsum, patet; venire ad Dominum est facere praecepta Ipsius.
[28] Quia haec per "esurire et sitire" significantur, etiam patet quid significatur per Domini verba apud Matthaeum,
"Rex dixit illis a dextris, ... Esurivi et dedistis Mihi edere, sitivi et potastis Me; peregrinus fui et collegistis Me:"... et dixit illis a sinistris, quod esuriverit et non dederint Illi edere, quod sitiverit et non dederint Illi bibere, quod peregrinus fuerit et non collegerint (25 [34,] 35, 37, (41, 42, ) 44):
per "esurire et sitire" significatur in ignorantia et egestate spirituali esse, ac per "edere et potare" significatur ex affectione spirituali seu charitate instruere et illustrare; ideo etiam dicitur "peregrinus fui et non collegistis Me", nam per "peregrinos" significantur illi qui extra ecclesiam sunt, ac volunt instrui ac recipere ecclesiae doctrinalia et vivere secundum illa (videatur n. 15
1463, 4444, 7908, 8007, 8013, 9196).
Etiam in Verbo legitur de Domino quod esuriverit et sitiverit, et per illa intelligitur quod ex amore Divino voluerit et desideraverit salutem generis humani.
[29] Quod esuriverit, legitur apud Marcum,
"Cum exirent ex Bethania, esurivit" Jesus, "et videns ficum procul habentem folia, venit si forte inveniret in ea quid; sed cum venisset ad eam, nihil invenit nisi folia, non enim erat tempus ficuum; ideo... dixit ei, Neque ex te in saeculum quisquam fructum comedet:... et mane praetereuntes" discipuli "viderunt ficum arefactam ex radicibus" (11:12-14, 20; Matthaeus 21:19, 20):
qui non scit quod omnia Verbi sensum spiritualem contineant, credere potest quod Dominus hoc fecerit ficui ex indignatione quia esurivit; sed per "ficum" hic non intelligitur ficus, sed ecclesia quoad naturale bonum, in specie Ecclesia Judaica; quod ibi non aliquod bonum naturale, quia nihil spirituale, sed modo aliqua vera ex sensu litterae Verbi, significatur per quod "Jesus videns ficum procul habentem folia, venerit si forte invenerit in ea quid; sed cum venisset ad eam, nihil invenerit nisi folia"; per "folia significantur vera ex sensu litterae Verbi: quod apud illam gentem nusquam aliquod bonum naturale quod ecclesiae exstiturum, quia in densis falsis et in amoribus malis sunt, significatur per quod Jesus dixerit, "Neque ex te in saeculum quisquam fructum comedet", et per quod "ficus arefacta sit ex radicibus": etiam dicitur "non erat tempus ficuum", et per id intelligitur quod nondum ecclesia incohata; quod incohatio novae ecclesiae
per "ficum" intelligatur, patet a Domini verbis Apud Matthaeum, cap. 24:32, 33; apud Marcum, cap. 13:28, 29; et apud Lucam cap. 21:28-31:
ex his constare potest quid ibi "esurire" significat.
(Quod "ficus" significet bonum naturale quod ecclesiae, videatur n. 217, 4231, 5113: et quod "folia" significent vera naturalis hominis, supra, n. 109.)
[30] Quod Dominus sitiverit, legitur apud Johannem,
"Jesus sciens quod omnia jam consummata essent, ut impleretur Scriptura, dixit, Sitio; et vas positum erat aceto plenum: qui vero impleverunt spongiam, et hyssopo circumposuerunt, et applicuerunt Ipsius ori; et quum accepisset acetum Jesus, dixit, Consummatum est (19:28, 29 [, [30]):
qui de his modo naturaliter et non spiritualiter cogitant, credere possunt quod haec nihil aliud involvant quam quod Dominus sitiverit, et quod Ipsi tunc datum acetum; sed quia tunc omnia erant consummata quae Scriptura de Ipso dixit, ac Dominus in mundum venit ut salvaret genus humanum, ideo dixit, "Sitio", per quod intelligitur quod ex Divino amore vellet et desideraret salutem generis humani; at quod "acetum Ipsi datum sit" significat quod in ventura ecclesia non foret genuinum verum, sed verum mixtum falsis, quale est apud illos qui fidem separant a charitate seu verum a bono; id per "acetum" significatur; quod "hyssopum circumposuerunt" significat aliqualem purificationem ejus, nam per "hyssopum" significatur medium purificationis externum (videatur n. 7918). Quod singula quae in Verbo memorantur de Passione Domini, involvant et significent Divina caelestia et spiritualia, videatur supra (n. 83). Ex supra allatis locis constare potest quid "fames" in Verbo significat; examinentur illa et expendantur, et videbitur ab illis qui in aliqua interiore cogitatione sunt quod nequaquam naturalis fames, esuritio et sitis possit intelligi, sed spiritualis.
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