are not able to take away from those, who are not in the faith of charity, the faculty of understanding and willing what is true and good, but that they should only be able to induce stupor for a short time. By its being given them, is signified that it is so ordered from the divine providence of the Lord, as above; not to have power to kill them, signifies not to be able to take away from those who are not in the faith of charity, the faculty of understanding and willing what is true and good, for when this faculty is taken away, man is spiritually killed; by tormenting them five months, is signified to induce stupor for a short time; five signifies a little, or, a short time, and to torment, signifies to induce stupor, because this is what is signified by a scorpion, n. 425; and by the torment, as it were, of a scorpion, is signified as follows, n. 428. That the faculty of understanding truth and of willing it, or rationality and liberty, cannot be taken away from man, is amply shown in the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Providence, n. 73, 74, 82-86, 92-98, 138-149, 322. That five months signify a little, and, a short time, is owing to the signification of five, as denoting a little; for times, whether they be hours, days, weeks, or months, or years, do not signify time, but state; and numbers determine its quality, n. 4, 10, 348, 947. That five signifies something, and also a little, may appear from these places: "A thousand shall flee at the rebuke of five," Isaiah xxx. 17. "And five of you shall chase a hundred," Levit. xxvi. 8. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto ten virgins, of which five were wise, and five were foolish," Matt. xxv. 1, 2. By ten virgins are signified all in the church; by five are signified a certain part or some of them. The . like is signified by ten and five in the parable where there were given unto the servants talents that they should trade, and one with his talent gained ten talents, and another, five, Luke xix. 13-20. Ten talents signify much, and five talents, a little; not to mention other passages; as in Isaiah xvii. 6, xix. 18, 19, Matt. xiv. 15-22.

428. "And their torment was as the torment of a

scorpion when he striketh a man,” signifies, that this is from their power of persuasion. This follows from what was said, n. 427; for by torment is signified the stupor, which their persuasion induces upon the understanding, as the scorpion does upon the body when he stings it; a scorpion signifies that faculty of persuasion, n. 425. In the spiritual world there exists a power of persuasion which takes away the understanding of truth, and induces stupor, and thus distress, upon the mind; but this power of persuasion is unknown in the natural world.

429. “And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them," signifies, that it is the desire of those who are in the doctrine of faith separated, that in matters of faith the understanding should be shut up, and the will closed, and thus that they should not have any spiritual light and life; but that it is nevertheless provided by the Lord that the understanding should not be shut up, nor the will closed, lest spiritual light and life in man should be extinguished. In those days, signifies the last state of the church, when the doctrine of faith alone is universally received; men shall seek death, signifies that they will desire that, in matters of faith, the understanding should be shut up; and shall not find it, signifies that it is provided of the Lord, that this should not be done; and shall desire to die, signifies that they will also wish to have the will closed in them; and death shall flee from them, signifies that it is provided that neither should take place; for thus spiritual light and life would be extinguished, and man would spiritually die; to seek, is predicated of the understanding; and to desire, of the will; and death, of both. That this is the signification of these words, is evident; otherwise, what meaning could there be in men's seeking death in those days and not finding it, and desiring to die and death fleeing from them? for by death, no other death is meant but spiritual death, which is induced when the understanding is removed from the things that are to be believed; for, in this case, man knows not whether he thinks and does what is true, or what is false, thus whether he thinks and acts with the angels of heaven, or with the devils of hell.

430. "And the shapes of the locusts," signifies, the form and appearances of those who have confirmed in themselves faith separated from charity. By shapes, is signified their appearances in a representative image; by locusts, are signified falses in extreme or lowest principles, n. 424; and as falses make one with those who are in falses, they also are signified by locusts. That they who have confirmed themselves in faith alone, or that the falses in which they are principled, are meant by locusts, appeared evident to me from this circumstance, that the presbyters who were in that faith, embraced the locusts that were seen, and kissed them, and were desirous of introducing them into their houses; for the images, which are forms representative of the affections and thoughts of angels and spirits in the spiritual world, appear as if they were alive, in like manner as the animals, birds, and fishes, mentioned above.

431. "Were like unto horses prepared unto battle," signifies, that because they can reason, they appear to themselves to combat from the understanding of truth. from the Word. By a horse, is signified the understanding of the Word, n. 298; by war, is signified spiritual war, which consists in reasonings and argumentations, n. 500, 586; by like, or similitudes, are signified appearances, as above, n. 430.

432. "And on their heads were as it were crowns like gold," signifies, that they appeared to themselves as conquerors. By crowns on their heads like gold, are signified tokens of victory, because formerly kings wore crowns of gold in battle, n. 300; for it is said that they were seen like horses, that is, on horses prepared for war, n. 431, for they had the faces of men, as follows; and they are in the persuasion that they are invincible.

433. "And their faces were as the faces of men," signifies, that they appeared to themselves to be wise. By man, in the Word, is signified to be wise and intelligent, n. 243; and by his face, wisdom and intelligence: hence it is, that by their faces being as the faces of men, is signified, that they appeared to themselves to be wise. They are also called wise, learned, and erudite, although

they are among the foolish virgins, who had no oil in their lamps, Matt. xxv. 1, 2. Oil signifies love and charity; and among the foolish, means among those who hear the Lord, that is, read the Word, and do not do it, Matt. vii. 26.

434. "And they had hair as the hair of women,' signifies, that they appeared to themselves to be in the affection of truth. By man, in the Word, is signified the understanding of truth; and by woman, the affection of truth, because man by birth is understanding, and woman, affection; on which subject, see The Treatise concerning Conjugial Love. By hair, in the Word, is signified the ultimate of man's life, which is the sensual principle, see n. 424; this is what gives them the appearance of being in the affection of truth, when yet they are in the affection of falsity; for this they believe to be truth. That a woman signifies the affection of truth, may appear from many passages in the Word; hence it is, that the church is called a wife, a woman, a daughter, and a virgin, the church being a church by virtue of the love or affection of truth; for from this comes the understanding of truth. The church is called a woman in these passages: "There were two women of one mother, and they committed whoredoms in Egypt, Ahola which is Samaria, and Aholiba which is Jerusalem," Ezek. xxiii. 2, 3, 4. "Jehovah hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth," Isaiah liv. 6, 7. "Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man," Jerem. xxxi. 21, 22. By the woman clothed with the sun, whom the dragon persecuted, Apoc. xii., is signified the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem. By women, are signified the affections of truth, by virtue of which the church is a church, in many passages, as in the following: "The women of my people have ye cast out of their pleasant houses," Micah ii. 9. The families of houses shall mourn apart, and the women apart, Zech. xii. 12, 13. "Rise up, ye women that are at ease, give ear unto my speech," Isaiah xxxii. 9. "Wherefore commit ye this great evil to cut off from you man and woman," Jerem. xliv. 7. "I will break in pieces man and woman," Jerem. li. 22. By man and woman, here and

elsewhere, is signified, in a spiritual sense, the understanding of truth, and the affection of truth.

435. "And their teeth were as the teeth of lions," signifies, that sensual things, which are the ultimates of the life of the natural man, appeared with them to have power over all things. Teeth signify the ultimates of the life of the natural man, which are called sensual things; concerning which, see above, n. 424. Sensual things are of two kinds, one kind having relation to the will, and the other to the understanding; the sensual things of the will are signified by the hair of women, of which above, n. 434; and the sensual things of the understanding are signified by teeth; the latter, or what is the same, sensual men who are in falses from confirmation, seem to themselves to be in power over all things, so as to be altogether invincible; wherefore the teeth of the locusts, by which such sensual things are signified, were as the teeth of lions, for by a lion is signified power, n. 241. That teeth signify the ultimates of man's life, which are called sensual things, and which, when separated from the interiors of the mind are in mere falses, and do violence to truths even to destroying them, may appear from the following passages: "My soul is among lions, whose teeth are spears and arrows," Psalm lvii. 4. "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth, break out the great teeth of the young lions," Psalm lviii. 6. "For a nation is come up upon my land, strong,-whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion," Joel i. 6. "Jehovah hath broken the teeth of the ungodly," Psalm iii. 7. There came up out of the sea a beast dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong, which had great iron teeth, it devoured and brake in pieces, Dan. vii. 7. "Blessed be Jehovah, who hath not given us a prey to their teeth," Psalm cxxiv. 6. Since sensual men do not see any truth in its own light, but ratiocinate and dispute about every thing, by questioning its identity; and since these disputes in the hells are heard without, as the gnashing of teeth, being in themselves the collisions of falsity and truth, it is evident what is signified by the gnashing of teeth, Matt. viii. 12,