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Matthew Chapter 23

    Chapter 23

THE INTERNAL SENSE.

  1. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
  2. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses:

that instruction from the Word ought to be attended to, without regard to the persons or characters of those who teach it. Verses 1, 2, 3.

  1. All things therefore whatever they say to you to observe, observe and do: but do not according to their works: for they say, and do not.

Nevertheless the examples of those who teach, and do not live accordingly, are not to be followed, because they are in the knowledge of truth without the love of it. Verse 3, latter part.

  1. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and put [them] on the shoulders of men: but they are not willing to move them with their finger.

And thus, though they lead others into spiritual infestations by what they teach, yet they do not assist them in removing those infestations. Verse 4.

  1. But all their works they do to be regarded of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the fringes of their garments;

For they teach only for the sake of human reputation, and therefore speak truths magnificently, and do works in externals that they may be seen. Verse 5.

  1. And love the first sitting place at feasts, and the first seats in the synagogues;
  2. And greetings in the market, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

And seek pre-eminence in the communication of good, and truth, and natural science, and to be thought better and wiser than others. Verses 6, 7.

  1. But be not you called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, the Christ; but all you are brethren.

Whereas no man ought to exalt himself above others in his knowledge, but to confess that all the truth he possesses is from the Divine Truth, which is willing to impart itself alike to all. Verse 8.

  1. And call not [any one] your father on the earth: for One is your Father that [is] in the heavens.

Neither ought any one to be exalted on account of the good belonging to him, since all good is from the Divine Good of the Lord. Verse 9.

  1. Neither be you called teachers: for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

Neither ought he to be exalted on account of science, since all science is from the Divine Truth. Verse 10.

  1. But the greater of you shall be your minister.

But they who excel others in what is good and true, ought to impart good and truth to others, out of pure love. Verse 11.

  1. For whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whoever shall humble himself shall he exalted.

Since they who are in self-exaltation, deprive themselves of all good, whereas they who renounce self-exaltation, come into the possession of all good. Verse 12.

  1. But wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of the heavens before men: for you do not enter in [yourselves], neither do you suffer them that are entering in to enter in.

They therefore who are in the knowledge of truth separate from the life, are in external worship separate from internal, which is cursed, because they neither enter themselves into the life of heaven, nor encourage others to enter. Verse 13.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you devour the houses of widows, and for a pretence pray long: on this account you shall receive more abundant judgement.

And because they deprive those of truths who desire truths, and teach them falses, when yet they make a show of teaching them truths. Verse 14.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you compass the sea and the dry [land] to make one proselyte, and when it is effected, you make him the son of hell more two-fold than yourselves.

And because in pretending to convert mankind to what is true and good, they confirm them the more in falses and evils. Verse 15.

  1. Wo to you, blind guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.
  2. [You] fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
  3. And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift which is upon it, he is a debtor.
  4. [You] fools and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

All such false teachers therefore are accursed, who seek to confirm themselves in truth and good by the external things of worship, more than by the lord's Divine Humanity, from which all the good and truth of worship proceed, and which therefore alone sanctifies worship. Verses 16, 17, 18, 19.

  1. He therefore that swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things upon it.

For the Divine Humanity of the lord, as to good, is the continent of all good. Verse 20.

  1. And he that swears by the temple, swears by it, and by Him who inhabits it.

And the Divine Humanity of the lord, as to truth, is the continent of all truth. Verse 21.

  1. And he that swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits upon it.

And the recipients of truth and good are the recipients of Truth Divine and of Good Divine. Verse 22.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you pay tithes of mint and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier things of the law, the judgement, and the mercy, and the faith: these [latter] things ought you to have done, and not to have omitted the former.

That they also are accursed, who are scrupulously exact about the external things of the church, or such as relate to the mere science of truth, whilst at the same time they are negligent of the internal things of the church, or such as relate to love to god, to charity towards the neighbour, and to the wisdom of such love and charity. Verse 23.

  1. [You] blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel.

Whereas both internal and external things ought to be joined together, by exalting the former above the latter, since to act otherwise obstructs the light of truth, so that small falses are indeed seen, but great ones are not seen. Verses 23, 24.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of plundering and intemperance.

That they also are accursed, who regulate the outward man by semblances of civil and moral life, without attending to the regulation of the inner man by the laws of spiritual life, leading to shun evils as sins against god. Verse 25.

  1. [You] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that what is without them may be clean also.

Whereas the interiors of the will and thought ought first to be purified from evils and falses by the admission of spiritual goods and truths, and then the exteriors, which are the works and the speech, would be thereby purified. Verse 26.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you make yourselves like whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness.
  2. So you also outwardly indeed appear just to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Otherwise evils are only made externally to appear like goods, and falses like truths, when yet internally they are evils and falses from hell Verses 27, 28.

  1. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just.
  2. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

And thus all truth perishes under what is false, and all good under what is evil, and yet the perpetrators of this mischief are not aware of the spiritual murder which they commit. Verses 29, 30.

  1. Thus you witness to yourselves, that you are the sons of them who murdered the prophets.
  2. And you have fulfilled the measure of your fathers.

When yet their own deeds testify, if they could discern, that their understandings are formed of mere falses destructive of truths, and that those falses are filled with evils. Verses 31, 32.

  1. [You] serpents, generations of vipers, how can you fly from the judgement of hell?

Thus they are mere deceit and cruelty combined, which are altogether infernal, and in connection with hell. Verse 33.

  1. Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise [men], and scribes; and [some] of them you shall kill and crucify, and [some] of them you shall scourge in your synagogues, and shall persecute [them] from city to city:

And which extinguish every truth of doctrine, and destroy every good of doctrine and pervert the Word, and wander from one false of doctrine to another. Verse 34.

  1. That upon you may come all the just blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
  2. Verily I say to you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

And thus adulterate all the good, and falsify all the truth of the church by all manner of rejection of the lord. Verses 35, 36.

  1. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [you] that kill the prophets, and stonest them that were sent to her, how often was I willing to gather together your children, even as a bird gathers together her young under the wings, and you were not willing!

When yet the lord in Divine Mercy is willing to conjoin truth to good in every one, and thereby to conjoin every one to Himself. Verse 37.

  1. Behold, your house is left to you desert.

But man, from his unwillingness to comply with the Divine purpose, deprives himself of all good and truth. Verse 38.

  1. For I say to you, You shall not see Me now on, until you shall say, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.

Since none can have his understanding opened to the light of spiritual truth, unless his will be first disposed to exalt the Divine Humanity of the lord, and whatever proceeds from Him. Verse 39.

Chapter XXIII.

  1. Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,
  2. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses:
  3. All things therefore whatever they say to you to observe, observe and do: but do not according to their works: for they say, and do not.
  4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and put [them] on the shoulders of men: but they are not willing to move them with their finger.
  5. But all their works they do to be regarded of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the fringes of their garments;
  6. And love the first sitting place at feasts, and the first seats in the synagogues;
  7. And greetings in the market, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
  8. But be not you called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, the Christ; but all you are brethren.
  9. And call not [any one] your father on the earth: for One is your Father that [is] in the heavens.
  10. Neither be you called teachers: for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
  11. But the greater of you shall be your minister.
  12. For whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whoever shall humble himself shall he exalted.
  13. But wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of the heavens before men: for you do not enter in [yourselves], neither do you suffer them that are entering in to enter in.
  14. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you devour the houses of widows, and for a pretence pray long: on this account you shall receive more abundant judgement.
  15. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you compass the sea and the dry [land] to make one proselyte, and when it is effected, you make him the son of hell more two-fold than yourselves.
  16. Wo to you, blind guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.
  17. [You] fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
  18. And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift which is upon it, he is a debtor.
  19. [You] fools and blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
  20. He therefore that swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things upon it.
  21. And he that swears by the temple, swears by it, and by Him who inhabits it.
  22. And he that swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits upon it.
  23. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you pay tithes of mint and anise, and cummin, and have omitted the weightier things of the law, the judgement, and the mercy, and the faith: these [latter] things ought you to have done, and not to have omitted the former.
  24. [You] blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel.
  25. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of plundering and intemperance.
  26. [You] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that what is without them may be clean also.
  27. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you make yourselves like whited sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness.
  28. So you also outwardly indeed appear just to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
  29. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just.
  30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
  31. Thus you witness to yourselves, that you are the sons of them who murdered the prophets.
  32. And you have fulfilled the measure of your fathers.
  33. [You] serpents, generations of vipers, how can you fly from the judgement of hell?
  34. Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise [men], and scribes; and [some] of them you shall kill and crucify, and [some] of them you shall scourge in your synagogues, and shall persecute [them] from city to city:
  35. That upon you may come all the just blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
  36. Verily I say to you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
  37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [you] that kill the prophets, and stonest them that were sent to her, how often was I willing to gather together your children, even as a bird gathers together her young under the wings, and you were not willing!
  38. Behold, your house is left to you desert.
  39. For I say to you, You shall not see Me now on, until you shall say, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.

  

EXPOSITION.

Chapter XXIII.

that the external man is to be purged, but by the internal, the Lord teaches in Matthew chap, xxiii. from beginning to end; and that the external man does not become internal, or act in unity with the internal, until cravings are removed. TCR 326, 331.

Verses 1-34. False prophets, who teach what is false, and thereby seduce, are as the scribes and Pharisees, who are described by the Lord in these verses. L.J.59.

Verse 5. They make broad their phylacteries, &c. - To make broad their phylacteries denotes to speak truth magnificently, merely to be heard and seen by men; for phylacteries are the external things which are extant to the sight, and to make them broad is to do works in externals, that they may appear or be seen. AC 9825, 9917.

These things were actually done by the scribes and Pharisees, but still thereby was represented and signified that they spoke many things from the ultimates of the Word, and applied them to life and to their traditions, in order that they might appear holy and learned: by the phylacteries which they made broad, are signified goods in the outward form, for the phylacteries were upon the hands, and by the hands are signified deeds, inasmuch as the hands are employed to do; by the borders of their cloaks, which they enlarged, are signified external truths; external truths are those which are in the ultimate sense of the letter; cloaks denote truths in general, and borders the ultimates thereof. AE 395.

Verses 8, 9. But be you not called Rabbi, &c. - From these two verses it is very evident, that the words of the Lord are to be spiritually understood; for who may not be called rabbi or doctor, who is a rabbi or doctor, and who may not be called father, who is a father; but whereas by father is signified good, and by the Father in the heavens the Divine Good, and whereas by doctor or rabbi is signified truth, and by the Doctor or Teacher Christ, the Divine Truth, therefore on account of the spiritual sense, which is in all things of the Word, it is said that they should not call a father on earth father, nor any one doctor, viz., in the spiritual sense, but not in the natural; in the natural sense they may be called doctors and fathers, but representatively, viz., because the doctors who are in the world indeed teach truth, not however from themselves, but from the Lord, and because fathers who are in the world are indeed good, and lead their children to good, yet not from themselves but from the Lord; hence it follows, that although they are called doctors and fathers, still they are not doctors and fathers, but those names properly belong to the Lord alone; to call, and to call any one by name, in the Word, also signifies to acknowledge the quality of any one; inasmuch as all in heaven and in the church are the disciples and sons of the Lord, as of a Doctor or Teacher, and as of a Father, therefore the Lord says, "All you are brethren; "for the Lord calls all in heaven and in the church sons and heirs, by virtue of consociation, by love from Himself, and hence by mutual love, which is charity, and it is from this ground that by the Lord they are called brethren; in this manner is to be understood the customary saying, "That all are brethren in the Lord." From these considerations it may also appear who are meant by the Lord when He mentions brethren, namely, all who acknowledge Him, and are in the good of charity from Him, consequently who are of His church. AE 746.

That by Christ is signified the Divine Truth, is manifest from Matthew, where it is said, "Be not you called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, the Christ;" where by rabbi and teacher is signified truth teaching, thus, abstractedly, the doctrine of truth, and in the supreme sense the Divine Truth, which is the Christ; that He alone is Divine Truth, is meant by "Be not you called Rabbi, One is your Teacher, the Christ." AE 984.

By rabbi and teacher is signified one that teaches truth, thus, abstractedly, the doctrine of truth, which is Christ; that the Lord alone is Divine Truth, is therefore understood by, be not you called Rabbi, for One is your Teacher, Christ. AR 684. See also 46.

To be called master, and to be called father on earth, is not here forbidden, but to acknowledge in heart any other father than the Lord, that is, when mention is made of master and father, it is requisite that the Lord be understood, who, in the supreme sense, is represented by them, agreeable to what was said above, 8702, concerning the most ancient people, who were celestial men; that whatever they perceived on earth was to them a medium [or means] of thinking concerning the Lord. AC 3073.

That it is not here forbidden to any one to call his father upon earth father is evident; nor is it here forbidden by the Lord; but this was said, because by Father is understood the Divine Good. AR 254.

These words, unexplained by doctrine, would seem to imply, that it is not lawful to call any person teacher, father, or master: whereas by doctrine we learn, that this is lawful in a natural sense, though it be unlawful in a spiritual sense. SS 51. See also C.S.L.406. TCR 306. AC 3010.

By these words is meant that the Lord alone is the Father as to life, and that the father on earth is only father as to the clothing of the life, which is the body, wherefore in heaven no one else is called Father but the Lord: that men are said to be His sons, and born of Him, if they do not invert that life, is evident also from many passages in the Word. DP 330.

It is believed from the sense of the letter of the Word, that Michael is one of the archangels, but there is not any archangel in the heavens; there are indeed superior and inferior angels, also angels more and less wise, and likewise in the societies of the angels there are moderators set over the rest, but still they are not archangels, under whose obedience, grounded in arbitrary appointment, the rest stand, such government not being given in the heavens, for all in the heavens acknowledge in heart no other above them but the Lord alone, which is meant by the Lord's words in Matt 23:8, 9, 10, 11. AE 735.

Concerning the fourth precept of the decalogue, that parents are to be honoured. This precept was given, because the honour of parents represented and thence signified love to the Lord and love towards the church; for father, in the celestial sense, or the celestial Father, is the Lord, and mother, in the celestial sense, or the celestial mother, is the church; honour signifies the good of love, and prolongation of days, which is the consequence, signifies the felicity of life eternal; thus is this precept understood in heaven, where no other Father is known than the Lord, and no other mother than the kingdom of the Lord, which also is the church, for the Lord gives life from Himself, and by the church He gives nourishment. That in the celestial sense of this precept, not any father in the world is to be understood, nor indeed to be named whilst man is in a celestial idea, the Lord teaches in Matt 23:9. AE 966.

Verse 10. Christ, in Matt 23:10, denotes Truth Divine. AC 3010.

Verse 11. But the greater of you shall be your minister.- See Exposition, chap. 20:26, 27, 28.

Verse 14. Because ye devour the houses of widows.-By widows are meant those who are in truth without good, but still desire to be led by good; to devour the houses of widows therefore signifies, to deprive those of truths who desire truths, and to teach them falses; and whereas to deprive others of goods and truths, and to appropriate those things to self for the sake of self-honour and gain, was amongst those things that are cursed, therefore the Lord said, "Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, because you devour the houses of widows, &c.AC 4844.

Verses 16, 17. Wo to you blind guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, &c.-The reason why it is not allowed to swear by the temple and by the altar is, because to swear by them was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church; for by the temple, in the supreme sense, is meant the Lord as to Divine Truth, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to that truth, also all worship grounded in Divine Truth; and by the altar is signified the Lord as to Divine Good, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to that good, also all worship grounded in Divine Good; and whereas by the Lord are meant all the Divine things which proceed from Him, He being in them, and they being His, therefore whoever swears by Him, swears by all things that are His; in like manner, whoever swears by heaven and the church, swears by all the holy things which are of heaven and the church, for heaven is the complex and continent of those things, in like manner the church, therefore it is said that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies it, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies it. AE 608. See also Exposition, chap. 15:14. It is said that the temple sanctifies the gold which is in it, and that the altar sanctifies the gift which is upon it; and thus that the temple and altar were most holy things, from which came all sanctification; wherefore by the temple and altar is signified the Lord as to the Divine Humanity, for from this Divine-Human proceeds every holy thing of heaven and the church. Unless this be meant, the temple and altar cannot sanctify anything; neither can worship itself sanctify, but the Lord to whom worship is paid, and from whom is the good and truth of worship, wherefore it is said, that the gift does not sanctify, but the altar; by the gift, are meant the sacrifices which were, of worship: and whereas the Jews did not understand this, but taught otherwise, therefore they were called by the Lord fools and blind. AE 391. See also AR 191. AC 9229, 9714.

By the temple is signified the Divine Human (principle) of the Lord, and at the same time heaven and the church in the following passages, Psalm 138:2, Jonah 2:4, 7, Habakkuk 2:20, and Matt 23:16, 17. AE 220.

Verse 22. And he that swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits upon it.- That by throne is here signified heaven, is evident, for it is said, that he that swears by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God; not that Jehovah or the Lord sits there upon a throne, but because His divine in the heavens is called a throne, and also sometimes appears as a throne to those to whom it is given to look into heaven. AE 253.

In the Word there is frequent mention made of a throne where the Divine Truth and judgement from it are treated of; and by a throne, in the internal sense, is there signified that which is of the Divine Royalty, and by Him that sits upon it is signified the Lord Himself as a King or Judge. But the signification of a throne, like the signification of several other things, is relative; when the Lord's Divine Itself, and the Divine Human are meant by Him that sits on the throne, in this case the Divine Truth which proceeds from Him is meant by the throne; when the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord is meant by Him that sits on the throne, in this case the universal heaven, which the Divine Truth fills, is meant by the throne; but when the Lord as the Divine Truth in the superior heavens is meant by Him that sits on the throne, in this case the Divine Truth which is in the Lowest heaven, and also in the church, is meant by the throne; thus the significations of throne are relative. The The reason why a throne signifies what is of the Divine Truth, is because a king in the Word signifies truth, and so does a kingdom. That a king has that signification, may be seen AC 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068; that a kingdom, may be seen AC 1672, 2547, 4691; but what is specifically meant by a throne in the Word is manifest from the series of things treated of, as in Matt 5:34, 35, and 23:22; in this passage it is expressly said that heaven is God's throne. AC 5313.

He who supposes that they who washed their flesh, or hands and feet, or garments, were thereby cleansed and sanctified, that is, purified from their sins, is much deceived, for sins are not washed or wiped away as filth by water, but they you washed away, that is removed, by truths, and by a life according to them, and this was what was only represented by washings. For waters signify truths, and truths, when the life is formed according to them, purify men. That these external things contributed nothing to purification from evils and falses is clearly taught by the Lord in Matt 23:25, 26, 27. AE 475. See also AE 960.

Verse 23. You have omitted the weightier things of the law, the judgement, and the mercy, and the faith, &c. - Justice and judgement are frequently mentioned together in the Word, but what they signify in the internal sense, is not yet known. In the proximate sense justice is predicated of what is just, and judgement of what is right; it is just, when anything is judged from a principle of good, and this according to conscience; but it is right, when anything is judged from a principle of law, and thus from the just principle of the law, consequently, also according to conscience, because the law is, in this case, the rule of judgment. But, in the internal sense, justice is what is derived from good, and judgement what is derived from truth; good is all that which appertains to love and charity; truth is all that which appertains to faith grounded in charity. Truth derives its essence from good, and is called truth grounded in good, as faith is grounded in charity, consequently, also, judgement is grounded in justice. By justice and judgment, in ancient times, were meant, with respect to the Lord, mercy and grace, and with respect to man, charity and faith. AC 2235.

Love is turned into mercy, and becomes mercy, when any one who is in need of help is regarded from love or charity, hence mercy is an effect of love towards the needy and miserable. The reason why doing mercy denotes the good of love, is because all mercy is of love, for he who is principled in love or charity, is also principled in mercy; and, in this case, love and charity with him becomes mercy when a neighbour is in want or misery, and in that state he affords him help; hence it is that by mercy is signified the good of love. AC 3063, 6180.

Faith which is in man is faith of the life, but faith which is not yet in man is faith of the memory and of the thought thence derived; the faith which is of the life is understood by "believing in God," but to believe those things which are from God, and not to believe in God, is historical faith, which is not saving. Who that is a true priest and a good pastor does not desire that men may live well? and who does not know that a faith of knowledges, because another man has told them, is not a faith of the life, but historical faith? The faith which is of the life, is the faith which is of charity, for charity is life. But although the case is thus clear, yet I foresee that they who have confirmed themselves in the doctrine of faith alone, and justification thereby, will not recede from it, by reason of their connecting falses with truths; for they teach truths when they teach from the Word, but they teach falses when they teach from doctrine; and hence they confound those things, by saying that the fruits of faith are the good of life, and that these follow from faith, and yet that the goods of life contribute nothing to salvation. Thus do they conjoin and separate; and when they conjoin they teach truths, but before the people, who do not know that they so invert, and that they say these things from necessity, that their doctrine may cohere with the Word; but when they separate they teach falses, for they say that faith saveth, and not the goods of charity which are works, not knowing, in this case, that charity and faith act as one, and that charity is to act well, and faith is to believe well, and that to believe well without acting well is impossible, thus that there can be no faith without charity; likewise that charity is the esse of faith, and its soul, wherefore faith alone is faith without a soul, and thus is a dead faith; and inasmuch as this is not faith, hence justification thereby is a mere non-entity. AE 250. See also Exposition, chap. 17:19, 20.

Verses 25, 26. Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, &c. - It is said that the inside of the cup and of the platter must be cleansed, that the outside also may be made clean; for the outside belonging to man cannot be cleansed until the inside is first cleansed, for the outside is cleansed by the inside. By the cup and platter are signified the interiors and exteriors of man, which receive truth and good, for the cup is what contains wine, and the platter is what contains food, and by wine is signified truth, and by food the like as by bread, namely, good. Hence it is evident what is signified in the spiritual sense by cleansing first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside may be clean also. The like is meant also by the washing of the disciples' feet, concerning which the Lord thus says to Peter, "He that is washed has no need but to be washed as to the feet, and is wholly clean,'' John 13:10; he that is washed signifies who is inwardly clean; has no need but to be washed as to the feet, signifies that in such case he will be outwardly cleansed, for the feet signify the external or natural man. AE 475.

The reason why the Lord speaks of a cup, and of a platter, is because that which contains signifies the same thing as that which is contained, thus a cup signifies the same as wine, and a platter the same as meat; by wine, is signified the truth of the Word and of doctrine, and by meat, the good of the Word and of doctrine; the natural man or natural mind is purified interiorly when falses and evils are removed, but the contrary is the case when they are not removed, for such as the interior is, such is the exterior; but not vice versa; for the interior flows in into the exterior, and arranges this latter to agreement with itself, but not vice versa. AE 960.

Inasmuch as by cup was signified that which contained, and by wine that which was contained, consequently, by cup the external man, and by wine his internal, therefore it was said by the Lord, "Wo to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of plundering and intemperance; thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that what is without them may be clean also;" by cup also, in the internal sense, is here meant the truth of faith, to cultivate which, without its good, is to cleanse the outside of the cup, and especially when the interiors are full of hypocrisy, deceit, hatred, revenge, cruelty, for in this case, the truth of faith is only in the external man, and nothing at all of it in the internal; and to cultivate and imbue the good of faith causes truths to be conjoined to good in the interior man, in which case fallacies are accepted for truths, which is signified by first cleansing the inside of the cup, that what is without may be clean also. AC 5120.

The interior principle belonging to man in the world cannot appear until the exterior is removed; for the exterior, with those who are evil, acts altogether otherwise than the interior wills and thinks, for man assumes a pretence of what is honest, of what is just, and also of Christian good or charity, and this that it may be believed that he is interiorly such, to do which he is impelled also by the fear of loss of gain, of reputation, and of honour, by the penalties of the law; but when those fears are removed, and he acts from his interior principle, then, like an unprincipled man, he commits depredations on the property of others, and thirsts after the blood even of his fellow-citizens, as is the case in intestine wars. That the interiors are of such a quality, appears yet more manifest from the evil in another life, when external things are taken away from them, and internal things are laid bare, in which case it is discovered that several, who appeared as angels in the world, are devils. That the interiors are at such disagreement with the exteriors, is a proof that the state of man is altogether perverted, for such disagreement is not given with those who are in a principle of sincerity, of justice, and of good, for they speak as they think, and think as they speak; but it is altogether otherwise with those who are not in a principle of sincerity, nor of justice, nor of good, for with these latter the interiors are at disagreement with the exteriors. That the Jewish nation were of such a quality, is described by the Lord in Matthew 23:25, 26, 27, 28. AC 7046.

The interior of man is no otherwise purified than as he desists from evils, according to the precepts of the decalogue: those evils, so long as he has not desisted from them, and does not flee and become averse from them as sins, constitute his interior, and are as an interposed veil or covering, appearing in heaven as an eclipse, whereby the sun is obscured and the light intercepted, and is also as a fountain of pitch or black water, from which nothing but what is impure can possibly emanate. What proceeds from it and appears before the world as good, still is not good, because it is defiled by the evils from the interior, for it is pharisaical and hypocritical good; this good is good from man, and is also meritorious good. The case is otherwise when evils are removed by a life according to the precepts of the decalogue. Now, inasmuch as evils are to be removed before goods can become truly good, therefore the ten precepts were the first of the Word; for they were promulgated from Mount Sinai before the Word was written by Moses and the prophets; and in them are not contained the goods which are to be done, but the evils which are to be shunned; therefore, also, those precepts are taught first in the churches, for they are taught to boys and girls, in order that man may commence his Christian life from them, and by no means forget them as he grows up, which nevertheless is the case. Similar things are understood by the words in Isaiah 1:11-18. AE 939.

The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are in part not naked truths, but are appearances of truth, and are as similitudes and comparisons taken from such things as are in nature, thus accommodated and adequate to the apprehension of the simple and also of infants; but whereas they are correspondences, they are the receptacles and habitations of genuine truth, and are as vessels which include and contain, in like manner as a crystalline cup includes excellent wine, and as a silver dish contains meats for food; and they are as garments which clothe, in like manner as swaddling clothes invest an infant, and as a handsome dress clothes a virgin. They are also as the scientifics of the natural man, which comprehend in them the perceptions and affections of truth that are of the spiritual man. The naked truths themselves, which are included, contained, clothed, and comprehended, are in the spiritual sense. of the Word, and the naked goods are in its celestial sense. Thus, for example, "Jesus said, Wo to you scribes and Pharisees, because you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of plundering and intemperance. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also." The Lord here spoke by the ultimate things of nature, which are continents, and thus makes mention of a cup and a platter; and by a cup is meant wine, and by wine the truth of the Word ; and by a platter is meant meat, and by meat the good of the Word. By cleansing the inside of the cup and platter is meant to purify the interiors which are of the will and thought, thus of love and faith, by the Word; by the outside being thus clean, is meant that the exteriors are thereby purified, which are the works and the speech, for these latter derive their essence from the former. SS 40. See also TCR 215, 326. DP 150, 151. DLife 30. AE 960.

The Word teacheth in the above passage, that so far as man is not purified from evils, his good deeds are not good, nor are his pious actions pious, neither is he wise. DLife 30. See also Exposition, chap. 5:16, s9:16-22, 21:40, 41.

Verse 26. You blind Pharisee, purge first, &c.-It is a known thing that the interior of man must be purified, before the good which he does can be truly good; for the Lord says, "You blind Pharisee, first purge the interior of the cup and platter, that the exterior may be clean also." The interior of man is no otherwise purified than as he desists from evils. according to the precepts of the decalogue; those evils, so long as he has not desisted from them, and does not flee and become averse to them as sins, constitute his interior, and are as an interposed veil or covering, appearing in heaven as an eclipse, whereby the sun is obscured and the light intercepted, and is also as a fountain of pitch or black water, from which nothing but what is impure can possibly emane. What emaneth from it, and appears before the world, as good, still is not good, because it is defiled by the evils from the interior, for it is pharisaical and hypocritical good: this good is good from the man, and is also meritorious good; the case is otherwise when evils are removed by a life according to the precepts of the decalogue. AE 939. See also D.C. 11.

Verses 27, 28. You make yourselves like whited sepulchres, &g.-By abominations are signified the profanations of what is holy; and by the filthiness of whoredoms are signified the defilements of the good and truth of the Word; therefore, by having a golden cup in her hand, full df abominations and filthiness of her whoredoms, is signified that religion consisting of profanations of the holy things of the church, and defilements of the goods and truths of the Word by direful falses. These things are similar to what the Lord said to the scribes and Pharisees, Matt 23:27. AR 728.

Inasmuch as bones signify falses, and sepulchres the evils in which those falses are, and whereas hypocrisy is an evil appearing outwardly as a good, but within is defiled by things false and profane, therefore the Lord likens the scribes and Pharisees to whitened sepulchres, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness. AC 3812. See also HH 505.

They who think wickedly of God and their neighbour, and still speak well, and who think insanely concerning the truths of faith and the goods of love, and speak sanely, are inwardly sepulchres outwardly whitened. AE 659.

The case with the good which is of love, is that unless internal good be in it, it is not good; the internal good which is in the good of faith, is the good of charity, which is spiritual good; but the internal good which is in the good of charity, is the good of mutual love, which is external celestial good; but the internal good which is in the good of mutual love, is the good of love to the Lord, which also is the good of innocence, this good is internal celestial good; but the internal good which is in the good of love to the Lord, or in the good of innocence, is Good Divine Itself proceeding from the Divine Humanity of the Lord, consequently it is the Lord Himself; this good must be in every good, that it may be good. Wherefore there is not any good given, unless its internal principle be from that source, for if it be not from that source it is not good, but evil, since it is from man himself, and what proceeds from man is evil; for man respects himself in every good which he does, and also the world, thus not the Lord, nor heaven; if the Lord and heaven be thought of by him, they are only regarded as means subservient to his honour and his gain; consequently those goods are as whitened sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead and of all uncleanness. AC 9473.

Verses 29-33. Wo to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, you serpents, generation of vipers, &c. - Deceit is here called hypocrisy, consisting in professions of piety with the mouth, whilst impiety is in the heart, or in professions of charity with the mouth, whilst hatred is in the heart, or in professions of innocence with the face and gesture, whilst cruelty is in the soul and breast, consequently when they deceive by innocence, charity, and piety; such are serpents and vipers in the internal sense, because when viewed in the light of heaven by the angels, they appear as serpents and as vipers, who conceal evils under truths, that is, they deceitfully bend truths to do evils, for such conceal poison as it were under the teeth, and thereby kill.But they who are in the faith of truth and the life of good from the Lord, cannot be hurt by their poisons, for they are in light from the Lord, in which light the deceitful appear as serpents, and their deceits as poisons. AC 9013.

Verse 32. You have fulfilled the measure of your fathers.- See Exposition, chap. 25:14-30.

Verse 34. Behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, &c. - All things which the Lord spake, He spoke from the divine, but the Divine ideas, from which He spoke, according to correspondences, foil into the ideas and thence the expressions of natural thought, such as occur here and in other passages of the Evangelists; and since there is a spiritual sense in all His words, therefore by prophets, wise men, and scribes, are not to be understood such in a natural sense, but instead thereof the truth and good of doctrine, and of the Word; for spiritual thought and the speech thence derived, such as appertains to the angels, is without the idea of person. Hence by a prophet, is signified the truth of doctrine, by the wise, the good of doctrine, and by scribes, the Word from which doctrine is derived; whence it follows, that to kill, has reference to the truth of the doctrine of the church, which is a prophet; to crucify, has reference to the good of doctrine, which is a wise one; and to scourge, has reference to the Word, which is a scribe; and that thus to kill signifies to extinguish, to crucify to destroy, and to scourge to pervert; that they wander from one false of doctrine into another, is signified by persecuting them from city to city, for city signifies doctrine; this is the spiritual sense of those words. AE 665.

Verse 35. That upon you may come all the just blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of just Abel to the blood of Zacharias, &c. - In the spiritual sense, by Abel are meant those who are in the good of charity, and, abstractedly from person, that good itself; and by Cain, those are meant who make faith alone the only medium of salvation, and esteem the good of charity of no account, and hence reject and slay it; and by Zacharias, are meant those who are in the truths of doctrine, and, abstractedly from person, the truth itself of doctrine. Hence by the blood of both is signified the extinction of all good and truth; by slaying him between the temple and the altar, in the spiritual sense, is signified all manner of rejection of the Lord, for the temple signifies the Lord as to Divine Truth, and the altar signifies Him as to Divine Good, and between them signifies both together. AE 329.

By the above words, is signified that the truths of the Word were violated by the Jews from the first time even to the present, insomuch that they were not willing to acknowledge anything of internal and celestial truth; therefore neither did they acknowledge the Lord. AC 9127.

By the above words, is not meant that the blood of all the prophets, from the foundation of the world, shall be required from the Jewish nation, for blood is not required of any one but of him who has shed it, but by the above words is meant, that by that nation every truth has been falsified, and every good adulterated. For the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world, signifies the falsification of every truth which has ever been in the church; blood denotes falsification, prophets denote the truths of doctrine, and from the foundation of the world, denotes all truth which has ever been in the church, for the foundation of the world denotes the establishment of the church: from the blood of Abel even to the blood of Zecharias slain between the altar and the temple, signifies the adulteration of all good, and hence the extinction of the worship of the Lord; the blood of Abel oven to Zacharias, denotes the adulteration of all good; to slay between the altar and the temple, denotes to extinguish all good and all truth in worship, for altar signifies worship from good, and temple worship from truth, and between both is where there is conjunction, and where there is not conjunction there is neither good nor truth; the altar was out of the tent of the assembly, and out of the temple; what therefore was done between both signified communication and conjunction. AE 391.

Verse 39. Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord.-See Exposition, chap. 6:9, 18:19, 20.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS.

Chapter XXIII.

verse 3.Observe and do.-To observe is to admit into the understanding, to do is to admit into the will; the two expressions therefore conjoined, denote the heavenly marriage of truth and good so continually referred to by the Lord.

Verse 4. They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne.-Another instance here occurs of reference to the heavenly marriage, but in this case to its opposite, for heavy burdens have respect to evils in the will, and grievous to be borne, to falses in the understanding.

Verse 15. You make him the son of hell more two-fold than yourselves.-This is a literal translation from the Greek, poieite auton uion geennes diploteron umon, where the more twofold appears to have reference to the infernal marriage.

Verse 24. Who strain out the gnat, &c.-What is here rendered strain out, in the common version of the New Testament is expressed strain at, but the original Greek term is diulizontes, from diulezo, which literally means to strain out from liquor any impurity which it contains; the comparison, which is also a correspondence, applies to the case of those who, in their enquiries after truth, are exact and scrupulous about small errors, but careless about great ones.

Verse 25. You make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter.-The Lord here again expresses Himself, as usual, with reference to the spiritual marriage, the cup having relation to the things of the understanding, as the platter respects the things of the will.In like manner, the plundering and intemperance, spoken of in the latter part of the verse, have distinct reference to the same principles, but in their opposition to what is good and true. The same observation will extend to the bones of the dead and all uncleanness, at verse 27, and to hypocrisy and iniquity, at verse 28, and also to the sepulchres of the prophets and monuments of the just, at verse 29, in which passages the bones of the dead, hypocrisy, and the sepulchres of the prophets, have more respect to the perversions of truth in the understanding, whilst uncleanness, iniquity and the monuments of the just, relate more to the perversions of good in the will.

Verse 33. You serpents, generation of vipers.-These words supply another instance of the Lord's continual reference to marriage, as above; in this case to the infernal marriage, serpents having respect to the sensual principle in its opposition to heavenly truth, and vipers to the same in its opposition to heavenly good.

Verse 34. Behold I send to you prophets, and wise [men], and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge, &c. - Another instance here occurs of the manner of our Lord's speaking according to a connection of ideas in the internal sense, when yet no such connection appears in the letter, for by prophets are meant, abstractedly from person, the truths of doctrine, by wise men the goods of doctrine, and by scribes the Word thence derived. In like manner, by killing is meant to destroy truth, by crucifying to destroy good, and by scourging to pervert the Word.

Verse 35. Between the temple and the altar,-The Lord here again speaks with reference to the heavenly marriage, for the temple signifies Himself as to Divine Truth, and the altAR signifies Himself as to Divine Good.

Verse 37. You that kill the prophets, and stone them that were sent to her.-To kill a prophet, is to destroy the good of the Word by evils of life: to stone them that were sent, is to destroy the truth of the Word by falses of doctrine; thus both expressions conjoined have reference to the infernal marriage.

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