? ' ' Ἡ it sf Hy i ΠΝ «ἢ i i ἮΝ i ἘΠ ἦν ἢ He hil i iE HEA AE 7 | ἱ a ii 1; ἢ" ἡ ΙΝ Hi Hath I ay Hb ay ἢ} Ta i Hii ἘΝ .. Ha HH i i : ay j i | i 7: Hi ἢ | HIE i} { ΜΗ’ Hit Hi) HG ἢ" HRV Hl . SSS wan = ἜΣ Ξ ΞΞΞΞ τς eas ——- a eee Siraensee ay ase ΞΕ Ξ Στατετες = TESS oa ss SSE SSS = one a ae ᾿ ." HH it " a ᾿ i a i ve Hi Hi me | a i a ἢ ia ᾿ i ee a ἢ} a " . ἡ . ᾿ a 7 | ᾿ i i | Mi WM ἐν ἡ} vl th i; Hi i ᾿ ἢ ᾿ ᾿ ie : i . Hi i ἮΝ ᾿ a ᾿ a ᾿ , | a a i See τεο τς ΠΤ ΣΟΥ ΜΝ a et i ah Π fli a Hi ᾿ = Tan oe pty ae et 2 SSS ili AW ah ma = "35:33... eed σδστο σι = r x, = -: Ξ Ξ = (GSS SSS SS ᾿.- SSS SS SSE ΞΕ = ΠΡῸΣ egress Υ ΦΈΡΕ ΕΣ ΣΕΥ ΕΣ ὙΓΡῸΣ Ssh Ε τἄτοταο τοι Ξ ae ns Av yi ἢ) Welsh fe THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK, AND ILLUSTRATED BY EXTRACTS FROM THE THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, TOGETHER WITH NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS OF THE TRANSLATOR, ANNEXED TO EACH CHAPTER. Ved BY THE LATE REV. J. CLOWES, M.A., _ RECTOR OF ST, JOHN’S CHURCH, MANCHESTER, AND FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, ERE POURTH EPS? EN. THOROUGHLY REVISED, WITH ADDITIONAL EXTRACTS, ETC, “WHOSO READETH, LET HIM UNDERSTAND.”—Marrt, xxtv. 15. LONDON : F. PITMAN, 20, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. C. P, ALVEY, 36, BLOOMSBURY STREET, W.C. MANCHESTER: J. B. LEDSHAM, 31, CORPORATION STREET, J, LARKIN, 26, HEWITT STREET, HIGHTOWN, 1868. MANCHESTER : _ PRINTED BY RATCLIFFE AND CO., CROSS STREET. ᾿ ΗΝ PREFACE. Tue design of the following work is to collect and bring into one point of view, the scattered expositions of the Evangelical History, which are given in the various Theological Writings of that distinguished servant of the Lord, the Honourable Emanuel Swedenborg, and thus to supply the reader with fuller and more decisive proofs of the Divine Original of the sacred pages, and at the same time to conduct him to a clearer and more instructive view of their bright and interesting contents. The Editor is well aware of the general prejudices which have, heretofore, opposed the important testimony of the illustrious author, whose interpretations of the Gospel pages are here intended to be introduced to public notice; but he is aware also of the sources of those prejudices, whilst he observes that they are frequently most violent amongst those - who are least acquainted with their object; and that, of the multitudes who unite in the common cry of abuse and invec- tive, there are scarce any who have ever seriously perused the volumes against which they take the liberty of pouring forth their blind and, therefore, unwarrantable censure. Neverthe- less, all this was perhaps to be expected from the general cor- ruptions of the human heart, so unhappily fallen and separated from its Gop, and, consequently, disposed to resort to any subterfuge, howsoever groundless, and to adopt any opinion, howsoever erroneous, rather than listen to that voice of the Eternal Truth, which would awake it out of its sleep of sin and death, to regain its lost righteousness and life, by a return to the bosom of its CrHatror and Saviour. And it was iv. PREFACE, perhaps still more to be expected from that quarter of the general corruption where, to the native defilements of polluted and unrighteous love, are added what are commonly called the advantages of a learned education, the splendour of brilliant talents, the accomplishments of classical taste, the dignity οὐ high and lucrative employments, and especially the reputation of all that critical skill and sagacity, which at this day are unhappily regarded as the only keys to unlock, and the only lights to explore, the vast and valuable cabinet of the Divine Wisdom, or Worp oF Gop. For the mischief is, and a more serious one can hardly be supposed to exist, that ‘‘from the beginning of the world (as it is well expressed by a celebrated writer) nothing extraordi- nary in the way of instruction ever came from Gop, but met with its chief opposition from that which was the reigning wisdom and learning of the time: therefore the ground and reason why the wise and prudent of every age have less dispo- sition and fitness to receive Divine light and instruction than babes and sucklings, lies in the nature of things, and will be always as true as when Curist said it of the doctrines which He Himself preached to the world.’’* Nor is there anything unaccountable, or of difficult solution, in this phenomenon, if we suffer our eyes to be opened by the light of the eternal truth of Gop’s Most Hoty Worp. For whilst men regard the Revelation of the Most Hicu merely as a plaything to amuse their understandings, or as a riddle for the trial of their skill of interpretation, or as a rattle to sound more loudly and widely the renown of their critical sagacity; whilst they go, therefore, to the Worp or Gop, in the same temper and spirit that they apply to the writings of Hesiod, of Homer, of Pindar, &c. &c., without an idea of the superior sanctity of the Hoty Boox, or of any qualification needful for its interpretation but what is to be derived from Hebrew and Greek Lexicons, or from the labour of learned * Law’s Letter to the Bishop of London, PREFACE. v. commentators who have studied it in the same temper and spirit with themselves; and whilst in the perusal of the sacred History they seek for themselves, not so much the amendment of the heart, the reformation of the life, the removal of corrup- tion, and the recovery of a Divine image and likeness, as to secure the name and reputation of sagacious critics, of eminent theologians, or even of orthodox divines, is it at all to be wondered at that they should either overlook or misinterpret the wisdom of the Hoty Boox? For will not its Divine Autor, as He hath declared by His prophet, ‘‘ answer them according to the multitude of their idols, and set His face against those men, and make them a sign and a proverb, and cut them off from the midst of His people ?’* So true it is, and must ever continue to be, that ‘‘the fear of tle Lorp is the beginning of wisdom;’’+ and that “‘ He shutteth the eyes of others that they cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot understand ; 1 consequently, that none can ever expect to be enlightened with the knowledge of the Eternal Truth stored up in the Worp of the Most H1aeu, only so far as he regards and pursues the blessed ends for which that Worp was dispensed, viz., the improvement of the heart and amend- ment of the life, by eradicating the corruptions of proud nature, and implanting in their place the evangelical graces and vir- tues of humble and heavenly innocence, love, and charity, from the GREAT IncARNATE Gop. For, were the truth to be dis- covered to man whilst he is under the dominion of his passions, how plain is it to see that it would only add to his greater condemnation, agreeably to the testimony of the Saviour, where He says, ‘‘ This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil; and again, ‘ If ye were blind, ye should have no sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore, your sin remaineth.’’§ * Ezech. xiv, 4,8. f Psalm cxi.10. { Isaiah xliv. 185 || John iii, 19, § John ix, 41, Vi. PREFACE. The Editor of the following work thinks it expedient to preface it with the above observations, in order to secure the reader against the mischief to which he is exposed, by reading it in a wrong temper and spirit. For perhaps on no occasion whatsoever are we more in the way of danger than in the study of books, and especially of those which treat on serious sub- jects; yet perhaps on no occasion whatsoever is the danger so little suspected and guarded against. We amuse our imagi- nation with reading, and we not unfrequently cherish our vanity in judging, but we too often forget that truth is a two- edged sword, which will certainly pierce us through, or divide us asunder, if we either judge it amiss, or neglect to form our lives according to the tenor of its purities. We forget, there- fore, that every good book has more or less in it both of the nature and the effect of the ark of the God of Israel of old, of which it is written, that when it was brought into the land of the Philistines, ‘“‘ The hand of the Lorp was against the ‘city with a great destruction, and He smote the men of the city both small and great.”* Such is still, and ever will be, the terrible operation of the eternal truth on the thoughtless and impenitent. Impressed with the force of these observations, the Editor most earnestly and devoutly entreats the reader, for his own sake, instantly to close the following pages, and proceed no farther in the perusal, unless he be of an humble, penitent, and teachable spirit, sincerely desirous of applying what he reads to the purification of his heart, and reformation of his life, before the Great and Holy God. For the grand and principal ten- dency of the following work is to convince the simple and the sincere that the Lorp and Saviour Jesus Curist is the Most Ηταμ and Onty Gop; and that the book called ΤῊΝ ΒΙΒΙΕ is His Erernant and Livinec Worp, replenished throughout with His Divine Love and Wisdom in undivided Union; and that through this living Word that great Incarnate God gives * 1 Samuel v, 9, PREFACE. Vil. life everlasting to all those who do the work of repentance, and keep the precepts of love and charity, by departing from sin, believing in Him, and living good lives. To oppose these, or even to make light of this testimony, is to oppose and make light of the testimony of the Eternal Truth, and thus to incur the tremendous sentence denounced by the Divine Giver of that testimony, and still in force against all who reject it, ‘It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for μοι." But it may be urged by some, and even by the sincere,—We do not oppose this testimony, so far as it insists on the Divinity of the Redeemer, the sanctity of the Sacred Scriptures, and the necessity of repentance and a good life—we only oppose the testimony of the Swedish Theologian, when he pretends to interpret the Sacred Scriptures according to new laws and rules of his own invention, which were never before heard of in the Christian church, and which tend to produce a fanciful, vision- ary, and uncertain mode of expounding the Divine Oracles. In reply to this objection, the Editor wishes to observe that the laws and rules of interpreting the Sacred Scriptures, adopted by the Swedish Theologian, are neither new nor of his own invention, since, it is plain to see, they were long ago applied in part by the Apostle Paul, who testifies to the alle- gorical, figurative, and typical sense of the Scriptures of the Old Testament,+ which is the same thing that Swedenborg calls their internal and spiritual sense. And in regard to what is further objected, that this mode of interpretation tends to introduce a fanciful, visionary, and vague exposition of the Holy Records, it may be remarked that the objection will equally apply against every other mode of interpretation, since there is none but what may be most fanciful, visionary, and vague, unless it be conducted under a serious and enlightened idea of what the Word of God really is, and of what it contains, * Matt, xi, 22, { See 1 Corinth, x. 1—12; Galat, iv. 22—31; and the ss coisas to the Hebrews ronal Vill. PREFACE. Here, therefore, arise the grand questions, the answers to which can alone direct to the right mode of interpreting the Sacred Scriptures, or Word of God. What is this Word of God? what are its contents? and what its essential _ characteristics, whereby it is distinguished from all other books ? For if the Word of God, according to the senti- ments of many of the learned at this day, is to be regarded merely as a history of human events, without reference to any higher sense and meaning: if its contents, too, be thus sup- posed to be merely human, as they needs must be if none but human ideas and human transactions are involved in them: if the characteristics, therefore, which distinguish the Bible from all other books, are not seen to be Divine characteristics, which they never can be whilst a Divine meaning, a Divine wisdom, a Divine power, and a Divine life, are not ascribed to it: if the speech and language of the Aumicuty be thus reduced to the level of the speech and language of His crea- tures, and He who is called inrrntre in deed, be rendered finite in word: in this case we may safely, and even prudently, apply merely human modes of interpretation to the holy volume, and without a charge either of folly or of impiety, may adopt the well-known maxim of a Right Reverend Prelate, and say, ‘“‘ That, with the apostles of old, divine inspiration supplied the place of human learning, but, with the apostles of modern times, human learning supplies the place of divine inspiration.” But then, on the other hand, if the Word of God be not a Word of mere history and expressions only, but of meaning and of ideas also, and if the meaning and ideas of God must needs be divine: if the Almighty has thus been pleased, in His most adorable mercy and wisdom, to clothe His Divine meaning and Divine ideas in hushan language, and to embody them in an historical form, in order to render them at once comprehensible and delightful to His creatures: if, therefore, the book, which we call the Bible, is that clothed and em- bodied Word of the Most High, by which the heavens and PREFACE. ix. the earths and all things therein were originally made,* and by which human minds are regenerated, and thereby restored to the order of heaven :+ if, consequently, the contents of this Most Holy Book must needs “partake of the Divinity of its Author, and consist of all those eternal principles of divine love and wisdom, which first gave birth to the universe, and are the continual mediate causes of its preservation and well- being: if thus the essential characteristics of the speech of Gop, as distinguished from the speech of men, are manifestly these, that as the speech of men contains and conveys the ideas of men, which are human, so the speech of Gop contains and conveys the ideas of Gop, which are divine; and, as in the speech of men, if it be grounded in sincerity, is involved the whole of their love and wisdom, thus the whole of their life, so in the speech of Gop is involved the whole of His love and wisdom, and thus the whole of His life. If such be the substance, such the contents, such the characteristics of the Worp of Gop, then how plain it is to see that the mode of its interpretation must be adapted accordingly, and that, therefore, (in agreement with its own repeated testimony,) it is not human learning alone but a divine and heavenly temper;{ not the spirit of the worldly wise, but of penitence and of prayer ;\| not self-derived intelligence, but heaven-derived wisdom and understanding, which are alone qualified to comprehend the deep and mysterious arcana of the Divine speech and language. Again, if all rational speech must needs consist of two dis- tinct parts, viz., meaning and expression, since the expression of speech is not its meaning, but only serves to contain and to convey it, neither is the meaning the expression, but only that which gives birth and life to the expression; and if this must needs also be the case, in a super-eminent manner, with the Divine speech: if the letter, or expression, therefore, of the * See Psalm xxxiii. 6; John i, 1, 2,3; 2 Peter iii, 5, t See John i, 13; iii, 5; xvii, 17; 1 Peter i. 28. 1 See Matt. xi. 28, | See Psalm cxix, 18, and throughout. § See Luke xxiv. 45, Xx. | PREFACE. | Word of God be perfectly distinct from its spirit.or meaning, yet connected with it as that which contains and conveys is connected with the thing contained and conveyed: if there be thus some secret agreement existing between the expression or letter of the Hoty Worp and the meaning or Spirit involved in it and manifested by it ; andif this agreement must of necessity be supposed to be constant and invariable, since otherwise it would be impossible to interpret the Divine language according to any fixed determinate rules or laws: then how plain is it to see further, that the only solid mode of interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures must needs be grounded in the science or knowledge of the agreement existing between the expression and meaning of Gop in His Hony Boos, in like manner as the only solid mode of interpreting the speech of man, so as to discover his meaning, is to learn first the sense and force of his language, or what ideas are meant to be conveyed by the terms in which he expresses himself. Again, if the Worp of Gop, as was just now hinted, con- tains His Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in close undivided union; and if these Divine Principles, though united and making one in God and His Hoty WorpD, are yet perfectly distinct from each other, as goodness and truth, will and understanding, affection and thought, charity and faith, are distinct, and yet intended to make one: if, too, it be of the utmost importance to man that those Divine Principles should be seen and apprehended by him both in their union and distinctness, since his salvation depends upon the measure in which they are united in himself, and they cannot he united in himself, until he sees and apprehends them in their distinctness: and if neither the distinctness of those principles could ever have -been seen by man, nor their union have been effected in him, unless they had first been marked in the expression, and thus revealed to him in the Worp of the Most Hiau: then it is still further evident that it is impossible for any one to attain a just idea of the contents of the Sacred Scriptures, and still more so to interpret them - PREFACE. Xi, aright, only so far as he respects the distinctness and the union of those two eternal principles which must needs enter into the composition of the speech of Gop, and influence its expression, in like manner as it is absolutely impossible to comprehend fully the meaning of a man, unless joint attention be paid to the affection and the thought which influence his discourse, and are combined in it. And lastly, if the natural terms and history, in and by which the Worp of Gop is expressed, must needs in many cases present scattered and unconnected ideas, when interpreted only according to their natural or literal sense, whilst yet the spiri- tual ideas involved in them are connected together in the fullest concord and most perfect beauty of arrangement and order: if the Worp of Gop be thus to appearance rude, discordant, and frequently contradictory in the letter, when yet, in its internal spirit and meaning, it is altogether polished, har- monious, and in unison with itself: then, who can pretend to interpret faithfully, and to edification, the Divine sense and purpose of the Hoty Boox, unless he be attentive to this circumstance of its composition, and be enlightened at the same time to discern and develope the beautiful arrangement of its interior and spiritual contents, under the apparent vulgarity and dissonance of the letter? It was in agreement with the above reasonable views of the Worp of Gop, and its sacred contents, that the following expo- sitions of the Gospel History were first given to the world by their enlightened author; and it is under a full persuasion of the truth and importance of those expositions, that they are now presented to the humble and devout reader, as highly con- ducive to supply him, according to what was above observed, with fuller and more decisive proofs of the Divine authority of the sacred pages, and at the same time to conduct him to a clearer and more edifying apprehension of their bright and mteresting contents. The fuller and more decisive proofs of the Divine authority of the sacred pages will be found to result principally from X11. PREFACE. these three distinct considerations, suggested and confirmed both in the following expositions, and in all the other theolo- sical writings of the illustrious author :— | First. That every part of the Sacred Scriptures contains an internal and spiritual sense distinct from that of the letter, and is written according to the doctrine of correspondences between things spiritual and ‘things natural, agreeably to which doctrine the latter things are applied constantly and uniformly to express the former, this mode of expression being the peculiar and appropriate language of the Godhead. Secondly. That it is written also with reference to the Divine and spiritual marriage of the Good and True, which marriage has place supremely in the Lord Himself, and derivatively in heaven and in the church, and is marked in the Holy Word throughout by characters the most discriminate and decisive. Thirdly. That it is written with a view to a connexion and harmony of ideas in the internal or spiritual sense, although no such connexion and harmony are discoverable in the sense of the letter. For if it can be made appear (as the Editor humbly trusts it will in the following work,) that the evangelical history here treated of, as well as every other part of the Holy Word, is written throughout in reference to and in agreement with the above three distinct considerations, then the devout reader will not fail to recognize, in such a circumstance, an additional and extraordinary evidence in favour of the Divine origin and authority of the sacred pages. For no human writing, it is plain, has the slightest pretensions to such a singular mode of composition and design, because no human writer, until instructed by revelation, ever yet conceived the most distant idea either of the above correspondence, or of the above heavenly marriage, or of the above connexion of ideas in the spiritual sense, where no such connexion appears in the letter. If, then, these striking characters of distinction are found to concentrate exclusively in the volumes of the Eternal Truth, PREFACE. ΜΠ: and to form a line of the most marked discrimination between the Scriptures attributed to the Most Hiceu, and those which bear the stamp of human fabrication and authority, they must needs be allowed to supply, at the same time, the most con- vincing and unquestionable evidence of a Divine Original. For how else can we account for the singular uniformity in this respect observable amongst the sacred penmen? ‘These writers, it is well known, lived in different ages and places, and in many instances had no sort of communicatién with each other, and yet they are all agreed in adopting a similar mode of conception and of expression peculiar to themselves, and such as no other writer in any age or any place had either constructed or devised. For it deserves to be considered, that the above characters of a supernatural and Divine meaning and language may be traced, not only through all the books of Moses, and through every psalm, but likewise through all the prophets both greater and less, through the four evangelists, and also through the Apocalypse. And, further (what is equally wonderful and worthy of attention) unless those several writings be interpretated with a reference to those characters, it is im- possible to comprehend their full scope and edifying tendency, or even to reconcile their apparent inconsistencies, apparent contradictions, and apparent futilities, with that Divine and heavenly wisdom in which they originate: whereas, no sooner are they interpreted in reference to those characters, and in agreement with the rules of interpretation thence deduced, than a most luminous, harmonious, and important sense and signification is immediately discoverable, which at once reconciles every apparent inconsistency and contra- diction, and communicates the highest degree of dignity and of Divinity to what before seemed trifling and insignificant. The Sacred Scriptures, therefore, according to this view of their distinguished characteristics, present us with the following curious and interesting facts: I. That more than twenty different writers, living in ages and places remote from each other, are found to agree in expressing themselves XIV. PREFACE. in conformity to certain given laws and rules of speaking and writing, which it was absolutely impossible they could learn from each other. II. That those laws and rules never entered into the thought or imagination of any writer, either ancient or modern, until he discovered them from the com- positions of the above writers. III. That those laws and rules involve in them points of most singular wisdom and edifi- cation, at once worthy of God to impart, and of the utmost importance to man to comprehend and obey. IV. That unless those laws and rules be seen and applied to the inter- pretation of the writings which are constructed in agreement with them, it is absolutely impossible for any one to discover the various sublime and instructive truths contained in those writings. V. But that if those laws and rules be seen and applied, out of a real sincere desire to understand the will of the Most Hiau, they are as a golden key to unlock the immense stores of heavenly wisdom, mercy, and truth, treasured ~ up in His Holy Word. If, then, there be one question of more concern to man than another, it is this—Are the above facts true and well grounded? For if they are, then the Sacred Scriptures must be acknowledged to contain in themselves the most decided and indisputable proofs of their Divine original, since it is impossible, on any other idea than that of a Divine agency and inspiration, to account for such a combination of extraordinary and important particulars. And in this case, too, the writings of the Swedish Theologian, in which, and in which alone, the above facts are pointed at, and applied to the interpretation of the Holy Records, must be allowed to derive from this circumstance a claim to more than ordinary con- sideration and respect, since it must be manifest to the most common observer, that, in establishing those facts, they tend at once to exalt, explain, and enforce the Divine Oracles of the Eternal Truth. But the following expositions are not only conducive to the confirmation of the Divine authority of the sacred pages, but PREFACE. ; xy. also to their illustration, by conducting the reader to a clearer and more edifying view of their most holy and heavenly contents. It is lamentable to observe in these latter days, how, on the one hand, the testimony of the Eternal Truth has been slighted and rejected, and, on the other, how it has been nusconcewved of and misunderstood ; and whilst charity sheds perpetual tears over that growing infidelity which in so many instances leads to a denial of revealed wisdom, she is no less painfully affected by that muisinterpretation, which, in instances equally numerous, betrays the unwary into its per- version and falsification. For what eye of penitence and of piety has not wept in secret, at noticing some of the generally received doctrinal tenets circulating at this day in the Chris- tian church, and all recommended under the venerable names of scriptural and evangelical? It would perhaps be an endless task,—it would certainly be a painful and invidious one,—to note each particular ground of mourning and of woe presented on this occasion to the disgusted sight; but some of them, from their pernicious tendencies, are so peculiarly affecting, that it would be criminal not to caution the reader against their malignant poison. Such~is the lamentable and awful dogma, which, by dividing the Divine Brine into three eternally distinct and separate personalities, and ascribing to each a distinct and separate essence, office, and character, has intro- duced a dreadful perplexity into the human mind respecting the true and proper object of its worship, and by establishing a speculative Tritheism, has cast a veil of impenetrable dark- ness over the bright face of the Ons, ErerNau, and TRIUNE Gop, so that not a single ray of His Divine Majesty and Splendour can be transmitted to enlighten the understanding and console the heart of the distressed and distracted worshipper. Such, too, is that other dogma, in close connexion with the former, that redemption consists in the vicarious sacrifice of one person in the Holy Trinity, to appease the wrath, or, as some express it, to satisfy the justice of another XV. PREFACE. Divine Person, or, as it is otherwise expressed by some, to make manifest the extreme malignity of human transgressions against the holy law of an infinitely pure and perfect Gop. Such, likewise, is that other pestilential doctrine, by which it is asserted that man is justified and saved by faith alone, and that charity and good works are not to be supposed as the producing causes of that faith, but merely as its manifestations and proofs. Such, again, is the doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness and merit of Christ, whereby salvation is rendered a mere arbitrary act on the part of Gop, independent alike of the co-operation or non-codperation of man. And, lastly, such is the direful phantasy of predestination, by which the freedom of the human will in spiritual concerns is totally annihilated, and whilst man is thus converted into a stock or a stone as to all things appertaining to repentance, regeneration, and consequent salvation, the Gop of Mercy Himself is changed into a terrible tyrant, foolishly indulgent to some, cruelly and causelessly indignant against others, and odious to all, since it is impossible to love a Being who is capricious, arbitrary, vindictive, and inexorable. It is in detecting the mistaken ideas and dangerous conse- quences of the above errors of doctrine, and, at the same time, in developing the beautiful, ‘grand, convincing, and saving forms of the Eternal Truth stored up in its Sacred Repository, that the testimony of the following expositions, as well as of the writings from which they are selected, principally consists. Accordingly, it is a fundamental article in the Christian faith presented to view in those writings, and confirmed by the multiplied and united declarations of the sacred penmen, that Gop is One in Essence and in Person, and that the Lorp JEsuS CuRist is that One Gop, who is at once the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Regenerator of man, containing in Himself the whole Divine Trinity of FatHEr, Son, and Hoty Spirit; the Farner being His hidden soul or essence, the Son His manifested form or existence, and the Hony Spirit His Divine energy or operation. By derivation from, and in PREFACE. XVil. agreement with, this Corner-Stone in the spiritual building of the Lord’s temple or church, all the other stones that enter into the construction of the sacred edifice are shewn to have their origin, their fitness, and their consistence. Redemption, therefore, is exhibited as a Divine work, not of one Divine Being to appease another, but of One Divine Being, the Creator of the Universe, to satisfy the requirements of His Own infinite and Divine mercy, which could never rest until every requisite and possible exertion had been made to restore His sinful and otherwise lost creatures to the purity, the blessedness, and the stability of that conjunction of life, with Himself, from which they were miserably fallen. For this purpose the Gop of Heaven was pleased to appear here upon earth in a body of flesh and blood, because, to effect the redemption of man, and his restoration to the order of heaven from which he had departed, two things were principally necessary; jist, that the infernal powers of sin and darkness should be combated, overcome, and removed, which could only be effected by an Incarnate Gop; and, secondly, that the Divine and heavenly powers of life and light, or, what is the same thing, of goodness and truth, should be made known and brought near to man, which could not have been the case unless the hidden and unmanifested Fatumr had descended into the lower sphere of nature, and thus, accommodating Himself to the infirmities of His creatures, and supplying them in His Guoririmap Human Essence with a medium of approach, had at once invited them to His bosom, and presented them with the necessary means of returning to it. Having thus established on scriptural and rational ground the Divine Nature of the Christian ReprEmEr, His oneness with the ETERNAL Fatuer, and the true meaning of that redeeming work which He came to accomplish, the same enlightened scribe proceeds to point out, in its genuine purity, brightness, and simplicity, that doctrine or rule of life, which is necessary to be observed on man’s part, in order to conduct him to re-conjunction with his Hzaventy Farner, and thus XViil. PREFACE. put him in possession of all the blessings and advantages procured for him by the work of redemption. And here the futility of a merely speculative faith, and of an imputed righteousness, is fully exposed, whilst it is shewn, with all the clearness of a noon-day sun, that nothing can possibly save man, because nothing can lead him to conjunction with his Gop, but a good life, and that a good life is a life of charity, of faith, and of good works united. By charity is meant that holy principle of love towards Gop and from Gop, which inclines man to respect whatsoever is of Gop in another, as well as in himself, and restrains him from loving or doing what is evil, because all evil is against Gop, and leads to separation from Gop. By faith is meant that holy principle of wisdom or truth from Gop, which disposes man to believe in and approach to Jesus Curist the incarnate or visible Gop, in whom dwelleth the invisible, and. by or through whom alone the invisible can be either seen or approached. And by good works is meant the operation of such charity and faith in man’s life, by virtue whereof he is led to respect the Great Incarnate Gop, His Word and kingdom, in every business, employment, and engagement of moral and civil life, and thus to acknowledge in devout humiliation, that all the good which he does, or is capable of doing, is not from himself but from Gop, consequently that all the merit of it belongs properly unto Gop, and not unto himself. But whereas it is impossible for man thus to shun what is evil, and to love and to do what is good, unless he be convinced that he has the most perfect freedom given him from Gop to do so continually, therefore, this liberty of the human will is perpetually inculeated in all the writings of our enlightened author, whilst it is demonstrated that without it man would not be a man, but a machine, and that, conse- quently, it is this heaven-born faculty which alone renders him a human being, capable of co-operating with his Gop in the great work of his salvation. Nevertheless, this wonderful faculty, it is shewn, is not properly of man, but of Gop; and PREFACE. xix. though it appears to be of man, since without such appear- ance it could not be exercised by him, yet it for ever remains the sole gift and most merciful communication of the Great CREATOR, reserved to every child of Adam, even under every possible degree of corruption and disorder. Such is the general outline of some of the more important doctrines inculcated in the writings which it is the intention of the present work to bring into public view. But to obtain a clear and distinct idea of all the particular truths which enter into the composition of those doctrines, and which at the same time render them luminous, consistent, harmonious, and edifying beyond any other, it will be necessary for the reader to have recourse to the writings which contain them, and to peruse them with diligence, candour, and in the fear of the Mosr Hien. Andif he read in such a temper and disposition, he may then indulge the reasonable hope that he will soon be convinced of the vast importance of what he reads; and will give perpetual thanks and praise to the Aumicuty for having made so plain the way of salvation, in these last days of darkness and of error, by destroying in His holy mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations ;* by rolling away the stone which the misinterpretations of men had laid upon ‘‘the mouth of the well” of the Eternal Truth; by enabling the humble and the penitent to drink again of the water of life freely; and by thus fulfilling His own blessed predictions that when the infernal powers of evil and error had filled up their measure of mischief, in deceiving the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, and in com- passing the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city,+ then should be seen the great white throne and Him that sat on it,{ together with the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; and then the tabernacle of God shall be with men, and He will dwell with them, * Jsaiah xxv, 7. t Rey. xx. 9, . t Rey, =a XX. PREFACE. and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God.* The chief design and purpose of the following work being thus explained, it only remains to make a few observations on its component parts. And, first, in regard to the translation of the Gospel from the original Greek, the Editor wishes to remark that he has endeavoured to make it as literal as possible, consistently with the different idioms of the two languages, and, therefore, the English reader will not be surprised at finding some deviations in this respect from the common version, especially where a regard to the internal sense made it necessary to adhere closely to the letter of the original. Nevertheless, the Editor must still lament the imperfection of his translation, arising in some cases from the want of English terms to express the Greek. ones, and in other cases from the undefined and indistinct sense of the English terms, which, on that account, are inadequate to express the distinct ideas suggested in the original Greek. As for example; in the original Greek there are three distinct terms to express a net, and two to express a basket, whereas in English we have only one term to express a net, and one to express a basket. So again, in the original Greek there are at least jive distinct terms to express the commu- nication of thought by speech, and there is every reason to believe that they are all applied to express a distinct meaning in regard to the nature of speech, as arising from the several degrees of affection and thought, in which all speech origi- nates: but in the English tongue, although we have a variety © Rey, a2: It is strange that it has been so little seen in the Christian world, that the descent of the New Jerusalem, and the LORD’s Second Advent, are events in connexion with each other, and may be considered as one, consequently, that as the former event is manifestly to restore the earth, or the church, by opening a new dispensation of heavenly truth amongst men, and thus leading mankind to re-conjunction with GoD, so the latter event must needs be for the same blessed end and purpose, and neither event can have any ten, dency to destroy the earth, according to the common notion of destruction. fy PREFACE. : << of expressions to denote the communication of thought, such as saying, speaking, declaring, telling, reporting, &c., yet all these expressions are undefined in their signification, and, therefore incapable of expressing the distinct idea of the degree of affection and thought in which the speech origi- nates. The same observation will apply equally to the terms in the original Greek expressive of joy, of sorrow, of sickness, repentance, and of several other ideas, as noted in the following Table :— ( péw. as che Various expressions to denote the eee me eG οι f thought by speech x oO S JV S} φοουφνούνφου νον λαλέω. φημί. φράζω. προςάσσω. διατάσσω. συντάσσω. “Ee | | γίνώσκω. , Various expressions to denote command ....6 6 6666 Various expressions to denote knowledge or . νοέω. knowing CHOSE SEE EEK SET FHEH HEH SER EOE SOK EEE EEK EER EEE 6 99 συνίημι. είδω. ὄπτομαι. βλέπω. θεάομαι. θεωρέω. Various expressions to denote the act of seeing...... ταράσσομαι. πενθέω. κόπτομαι. θρενέω. λυπέω. Various expressions to denote the sensation of pain or TE OUOIE IS ἘΠῚ {ξεε Του τ toc dscceedes caused ot eakaes Various expressions denoting the sensation of joy f χαίρω. or Golightsccissccsess Ses oseesseceeeesoesesesteesesressere ἀγαλλιάω. : i : : θυμόω. Various expressions denoting the passion of anger. ὀργίζω: μετανοέω. Various expressions denoting the act of repenting... | merits Rebytine XXil. PREFACE. Various expressions denoting man, or a human { ἄνθρωπος. being SOCCER SEC EEHSHSSSEHSEHDHHEKHSHEHSHSEH SEK ΦΦῸ 990 SET HEREED ἀνήρ. Ἶ : καλὸς. Various expressions denoting excellence ....6.6 666 6. { νόσος. Various expressions denoting sickness or infirmity ) μαλάκια. of body... eeecesoeesereces eee ses eos ecoes est eseseveseeese .99 ἀσθένεια. αῤῥόσημα. : ; pees as. Various expressions denoting light....sccoccessssesceee his: ἀνομία. Various expressions denoting sin or transgression... παράπτωμα. ’ὔ αμάρτημα. συνετός. or prudence φοοθον οθθοουο 999 909 8909 senses 6000 9909 699 οθῸ 9θῦ Ν e e e . σο OS. Various expressions denoting a person of wisdom ? φρόνιμος. Various expressions denoting the affection of love ( ἀγαπάω. or friendship Coc ese seeceeees COCECHOHHCEG EHH LEHHHEOEK HOD φιλέω. . . . €€ Qe Various expressions denoting hell ........ssesecssesees Meee; αμφίβληςρον. δὶκτ VOVe σαγήνη. Various expressions denoting nets to catch fish...... δοῦλός. δίακονος. υπηρέτος. Various expressions denoting & ΒΘ νη... . 6. νον νον σον , οἰκια. : ; : πυλη. Various expressions denoting a gate or 41001".......6 5.2. 4.’ 7 θύρα. ἰμάτιον. ἰματισμὸς. ἔνδυμα. Various expressions denoting clothes or dress ...... τάφος. μνημεῖον. Various expressions denoting a place of habitation.. δῶμα. Various expressions denoting a place of burial ...... PREFACE. Xxilii. From the above Table, the reader will at once discern the difficulty, not to say the almost impossibility, of finding appro- priate English terms to express intelligibly all the distinct ideas intended to be suggested by the original Greek, especially when it is considered that we have not yet sufficient light to enable us to discover, in all cases, what those distinct ideas are. Suffice it, therefore, to observe in general, that wheresoever two expressions occur, of nearly the same signification, one has reference more to the things of the will, and the other more to the things of the wnderstanding, and if a third be adjoined, it usually refers to the conjunction of those principles. But more will be seen on this subject in the Translator’s Notes and Observations, to which the reader is, therefore, referred for further information. Secondly, in regard to the Internal Sense in a connected serves, which immediately follows every chapter to which it refers, the Editor is desirous to inform the reader, that it appearing to him of importance that such a connected sense should be given, he endeavoured himself to collect and arrange it, partly from the explications given in the Extracts, and partly from the author’s general doctrine of correspondence, where the Extracts-supplied no information. The reader, there- fore, is not bound to receive the whole of that sense on the authority of the enlightened author of the Extracts. Never- theless, since by far the greater part is selected from the Extracts, and since the remainder is supplied from the laws ‘ and rules of correspondence, signification, and representation, made known by the writer of the Extracts, the Editor flatters himself with the hope that the whole will have its proper weight and influence on the reader’s mind and life. Perhaps the Editor ought to apologize to the public for blending anything of his own with the expositions of an interpreter so eminently enlightened, and for assuming to himself an office of such considerable responsibility as that of connecting the internal sense of each chapter in a series. But he trusts that a sufficient apology will be found in the general harmony of XXiv. PREFACE. the whole, and that he cannot justly be charged with having blended anything of his own, when it is observed that the tendency of every part is to exalt the Lorp’s Divine Human [principle], His Worp, His Kinepom, and His Lire in man, by leading man into states of humiliation, charity, good works, and thanksgiving, through sincere repentance and self-denial, before that Great Gop and SAVIOUR. | Thirdly, as to what concerns the Extracts, &c., which follow the internal sense in a series, the difficulty was to avoid repetition, and, at the same time, to omit nothing of importance; and the Editor humbly trusts that he has surmounted this difficulty, by selecting such passages as con- tain the fullest and clearest expositions of the texts to which they refer, and at the same time by suppressing such others as could only tend to increase the bulk of the volume, without adding at all to the store of the reader’s information. Never- theless, in a work of such magnitude and extent, it is very possible that some things of importance may have been over- looked, and that some may have been needlessly repeated, in which case the Editor trusts he is willing to confess his fault, and gratefully to acknowledge the kindness which will point it out to him, that it may be corrected in a future edition, if it should ever be called for. Lastly, of the Notes and Observations, the Editor has only to observe, that they are not intended to display critical skill, or to make.a show of human learning, but principally to note such passages of the evangelical history as have more immediate reference to the heavenly marriage, and to that other law according to which the Sacred Scriptures are written throughout, viz., a connection of ideas in the internal sense, where no such connexion appears in the letter. Some obser- vations also are made on the variety of terms in the original] Greek applied to express nearly the same idea, according to what is marked above. The Editor has now only to recommend the whole of the PREFACE. XXV. following work to the Divinzt BENEDIcTION, with devout prayer that it may answer all the good purposes for which it is given to the public, by opening the eyes of every reader to see that the Lorp Jesus CHRIST 15. THE ONLY Gop of heaven and earth, and that His Hoty Worp is the only medium of conjunction with Him, and that He has been graciously pleased at this day mercifully and wonderfully to open that Word, for the instruction, reformation, and regeneration of the humble and the penitent, who desire earnestly to forsake all the evil of sin, that they may love and serve Him, and become His eternally blessed children. ‘‘ This is the Lorp’s doing ; tt 18 marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lorp hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech Thee, Ο Lorp: O Lorp, I beseech Thee, send now pros- perity.”’* * Psalm cxviii. 23, 24, 25. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. Tue call for a Fourth Edition of this Gospel is very gratifying to the Society which undertakes its publication. Since 1840, when the third edition was issued, many changes have taken place in the public mind upon several subjects of religious thought, all of them, more or less directly, being influenced by different interpretations of the Divine Word. The uneasiness which at that time was being felt in the National Church, has now developed itself into hostile ranks, each of which has taken a defined position, and become engaged in the erection of its own defences. One insists upon tradition, and the sacerdotal authority of their priesthood, as indispensable for a right interpretation of the Word. Another maintains that the results of verbal and historical criticism must be admitted as truths, even though they should place in jeopardy all actual faith in the Deity of the Saviour and the Divinity of His Word. A third professes to receive the letter of the Gospels as expressing all that was intended by their Divine Author for the light and guidance of Christian men; notwithstanding, much that this party puts forth as ‘‘licht” is mystery impenetrable by human thought. Others could be named; and there are, among each of those referred to, varieties of opinion, having their bases more or less deep in dogmatic theology and patristic interpretation. All profess to believe in the inspiration of the Gospels, though the ideas upon that subject which prevail among them are vague and various, none having any settled principles or recog- nised authority on which to rest. Their interpretations of the Divine Word are conducted by no higher law than human ingenuity and learning, and, in these respects, each party PREFACE. XXVil. claims for itself an authority equal to the others, and so the church has drifted into embarrassments and conflict; nor can it ever possess lasting steadiness and light until it is perceived that the Divine Word must have been written by a law, and something of that law is known and acknowledged. One would think that a moment’s reflection was sufficient to con- vince any one that the Word of God must be essentially different from any human composition. No one will pretend that it was a random work; and, therefore, all must confess that it was prepared upon some principle. This is our con- viction: we believe that such a principle must be in harmony with all the Divine works, because the Divine Word is a Divine work; the outer form of it being the orderly covering of some inner wisdom. The letter is as it were the cuticle, of which an interior spirit is its life and light. It is declared of the Lord that ‘‘ without a parable spake He not,’ and He said that His ‘‘ words are spirit and life.” These facts assure us that the Divine Revelations lie beneath the surface of the letter; and, lest this truth should be overlooked by the Church, the apostle said “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 116. There is a spiritual philosophy involved in those teachings, which St. Paul epitomised when he said, ‘the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” By this we are taught that there is a relation subsisting between natural and spiritual things, and that the outer forms of creation are the natural symbols of their inner being. If the Word be a Divine work, it is reasonable to believe that it has been constructed upon a similar principle, and that it contains within it ample evidences of the fact. If this be so, and we believe it is, then an acquaintance with it is essential to the right interpretation of the Word. It is ‘‘the key of know- ledge,” and without the use of it we cannot enter into a clear understanding of the holy things which it reveals; for those revelations refer, not so much to the natural things which are “ XXVIlil. ἱ PREFACE. apparent in the letter, as to the spiritual things which lie beneath, and of which the letter is the visible symbol or correspondence. To unfold this law of correspondence, and thereby to explain the spiritual signification of the Word, was the special mission which Swedenborg asserts he was raised up to perform. The Lorp, in revealing the spiritual sense of the Word, has fulfilled what He meant by His promise to come again. Swedenborg, under the divine auspices of the Lorn, has explained the law of this revelation, and extensively applied it in his expositions of the Word; and there are a considerable number of persons, in all branches of the church, who, having well studied his arguments and illustrations, feel intellectually satisfied that they deserve the best attention which Christian intelligence and piety can bestow upon them. The more seriously they are thought of, the more deeply will they affect the reflecting mind, and interest the hearts of regenerating men. This law of Biblical interpretation emancipates the student from the perplexities, which the letter of the Word occasionally presents; it shews him that Gon’s revelation has but few difficulties to encounter from human philosophy and science, and that all the Divine teachings are in the most perfect harmony with the highest conceptions of spiritual truth, and the holiest yearnings of regenerate life. To present some illustrations of this law of correspondence, by which Swedenborg asserts the whole Word to have been written, the late Rev. J. Clowes undertook a translation of the four Gospels, which in his view of the case, should not only be closer to the original Greek than the authorized version, but as a consequence, be a better form for the application of this law of correspondence; and, at the same time, to give a summary exposition of their spiritual significance, founded upon extracts from Swedenborg’s writings, which extracts were appended to each chapter. His translation and ‘‘ The internal sense,” his ‘‘ Notes and observations,’ together with the ‘‘Exposition,” as they appeared in the third edition, have PREFACE. XXix. been carefully revised and reproduced in this; but the number of the extracts from Swedenborg’s writings have been increased, so as to extend over sixty-seven pages: the present volume is therefore that much larger than its predecessor. It is believed that all the main passages in which Swedenborg has referred to any verse or verses of this Gospel have been collected and inserted in this edition, so that the reader is now put in possession of the fullest direct information, which that illus- trious author has provided—provided, as he says, under the divine auspices of the Lorp—for the instruction of His church. There has also been added a short index of various subjects, terms, and correspondences, which will help the reader to find, more readily than he otherwise could do, such points of special interest as he may desire to study. E. D. RENDELL. Preston, February, 1868. Explanation of the Abbreviated Titles of the Works referred to in the following pages. —Arcana Ceelestia. pare cee Explained. .—Apocalypse Revealed. .—Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church. _—Coronis or Appendix to the True Christian Religion. .—Continuation Concerning the Divine Love, at the end of the Apocalypse Explained. .—Continuation concerning the Last Judgment. —The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love, and the Pleasures of Insanity, concerning Scortatory Love. D. F.—Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning Faith. D. Life.—Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem. D. Lord.—Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord. D. L. W.—Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and Divine .Wisdom. D. P.—Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Providence. D. W.—Divine Wisdom, at the end of the Apocalypse Explained. E. U.—Earths in the Universe. H. H.—Treatise concerning Heaven and Hell. L. J.—Treatise concerning the Last Judgment. N. J. ΗΠ. D.—The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine. S. S.—Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scriptures. TT. C. R.—True Christian Religion. ἢ τι τὸ THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. af Bs ae oe ᾿ Gott THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. CHAPTER 1. CHAPTER I. 1. THe book of the gene- ration of Jesus CuHrist, the son of David, the son of Abraham. 2. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren ; 3. And Judah begat Phares and Zarah of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Ks- rom begat Aram; 4. And Aram begat Ami- nadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon; 5. And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse; 6. And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her [that had been the wife] of Uriah; 7. And Solomon begat Ro- boam; and Roboam_ begat Abiah; and Abiah begat Asa; B THE INTERNAL SENSE. Tuat the Word throughout treats of the spiritual produc- tions of faith and love derived from the Lorp. Verse 1. These productions are enu- merated under various names expressive of their qualities; Verses 2—17. and may be re- duced to three classes; the first of which is celestial; Verses 2—6. and the second spiri- tual; Verses 7—12. and the third natural; Verses 12— 16. all of which are most holy.. Verse 17. 2 THE GOSPEL AOCORDING 8. And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias; 9, And Ozias begatJ oatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias; 10. And Ezekias begat Ma- nasses; and Manasses begat Amon; andAmon begatJosias ; 11. And Josias begat Jecho- nias and his brethren, about the time of the carrying away to Babylon; 12. And after the carrying away to Babylon, Jechonias be- gat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel; 13. And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eli- akim ; and Eliakim begatAzor; 14. And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud; 15. And Eliud begat Ele- azar; and Eleazar begat Mat- than; andMatthan begatJacob; 16. And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called CHRIST. 17. So all the generations from Abraham to David [are] fourteen generations ; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon [are] fourteen generations: and from the car- rying away into Babylon unto Curist [are] fourteen gene- rations. 18. And the birth of Jesus Curist was on this wise: for His mother Mary being . betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. [CHAP. I. That the Lorp, as to His Human essence, was conceived from the Divine, in the mother Mary, who thus represented the church as to good, about to be conjoined to its proper truth. Verse 18. CHAP. I.] 19. ButJoseph her husband, being just, and not willing to expose her to public infamy, was minded to put her away privily. 20. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him inadream, saying, Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins. 92. But all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was declared of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, GoD-WITH-US. 24. And Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25. And knew her not, un- til she brought forth her first- TO MATTHEW. 3 That the truth of the church could not comprehend this, and was about to separate itself from its good; Verse 19. Until instructed in its ob- scure. state from the Word, teaching that the Lorp would . assume the Human essence, as a means of rescuing man from hell; Verses 20, 21. As had been predicted. Verses 22, 29. Thus illumination succeeds, and the conjunction of good and truth in the church; Verse 24. And all salvation is ac- knowledged to be from the born Son: and he called His Lorp’s Divine Humanity. name JESUS. Verse 25. EXPOSITION: BEING EXTRACTS From the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. CHAPTER I. VERSE 1. The book of the generation, &c.—By gene- rations and nativities, in the Word, are signified spiritual 4 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING (CHAP. I. generations and nativities, all which in general have reference to good and truth, for nothing else is generated and born from the Lord as a husband, and from the Church as a wife. A.R. 543. Verses 18—25. Many at this day think of the Lord only as of an ordinary man, like themselves; the reason is, because they only think of His Humanity, and not at the same time of His Divinity, although His Divinity and His Humanity cannot be separated: ‘‘For the Lord is God and man, and God and man in the Lord are not two but one person, yea altogether one, even as the reasonable soul and flesh are one man;” as is taught in the doctrine received throughout the whole Christian world, called the Athanasian Creed, which has been confirmed by several councils. Let me, therefore, entreat the reader, that he may not henceforward separate in his thoughts the Humanity of the Lord from His Divinity, to read the passages quoted above from Luke, as also the fol- lowing from Matthew: ‘‘The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as His mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of tue Horny Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in.a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife; for that which is conceived in her is of THz Hory Sprrit: and she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife. And he knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born Son; and he called His name Jesus.”’ i. 18S—25. From these words, as well as from the relation of the nativity given in Luke, and from the other passages adduced above, it is evident, that Jesus, who was conceived of Jehovah as a Father, and born of the Virgin Mary, is the Son of God, of whom all “the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” D. Lord, 21. That the Divine, which is called the Father, was the Essential Divine of the Lord, from which His Humanity existed, and by virtue whereof the Humanity also was made Divine, appears manifest from His conception from the Essential Divine; as in Matthew i. 20, 25; and in Luke 1.᾽ 81, 34, 35: from which it is evident that the Lord from conception is Jehovah God, and to be Jehovah God from con- ception is to be so as to the life itself, which is called the soul CHAP. 1.] TO MATTHEW. 5 from the Father, from which the life of the body is derived; hence it also manifestly appears, that the Humanity of the Lord is what is called the Son of God, for it is said, ‘‘ That Holy Thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.” ‘ xx1.. 12; John ase Doe waa. Ae γι; τ ὦ E10. Healing every disease, &c.—Inasmuch as diseases repre- sented the iniquities and evils of spiritual life, therefore, by the diseases which the Lord healed is signified liberation from the various kinds of evil and the false which infested the church and the human race, and which would have induced spiritual death; for Divine miracles are distinguished from other miracles by this, that they involve and have respect to states of the church and the heavenly kingdom; on this account the Lord’s miracles consisted principally in the healing of diseases. A.C. 8364. Verse 24. By demons and demoniaces, in the abstract sense, are signified cupidities and falsities, as may appear from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. Matt. iv. 24, and elsewhere. A. H. 1001. TRANSLATOR’S NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. CHAPTER IV. Verse 10. Get thee hence, satan.—lIt is remarkable that in this chapter the tempter is called by two distinct names, the devil and satan, for in verses 1, 5, 8, 11, he is called the devil, and in this verse satan, of which distinction no satisfactory account can be given but from the internal sense, which requires that the two distinct principles of evil and the false should be discriminated, since they are the opposites of good and truth, and form, what Swedenborg properly terms, the infernal marriage, in like manner as the conjunction of good and truth forms the heavenly marriage. This, therefore, is CHAP. Iv. | TO MATTHEW. 99 one amongst the numerous proofs that the Word is written throughout with a view to such marriage. Verse 16. The people which sat in darkness, &c.—In this ‘verse another proof occurs of reference to the above marriage, which abounds in the word throughout; for mention is made first of the people which sat in darkness, or of those who were destitute of truth, and next of those who sat in the region and shadow of death, or of those who were destitute of good; and it is said of the former, that they saw great light, and of the latter, that light is sprung wp to them. In like manner, the same infernal marriage is described by the region and shadow of death; region having respect to evil in the will, and shadow to the false in the understanding. Verse 17. Repent ye-—The term here used to express the act of repentance is petavoéw.—See note at chap. iii. 2. Verse 18. Casting a net ito the sea.—It is remarkable that in the original Greek there are three distinct terms to express a net; Ist, αμφιβληςρον, which is the term here used ; Qdly, δικτυον, which oceurs at verse 20 below; and 8dly, σαγήνη, which occurs chap. xiii. 47. What the distinction is in their signification, as it respects the internal sense, we are not expressly informed; but probably, since a net in general signi- fies the doctrine by which men are raised out of a natural state into a spiritual, and thus are gathered together into the church, the three kinds of nets may refer to the three kinds of doctrine, celestial, spiritual, and natural. Verse 23. Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and malady, &c.—This passage affords another striking proof that the Sacred Scriptures are written with reference to the heavenly marriage of good and truth, as: above noted, and were intended to express it; for the term teaching has reference more to the doctrine of truth, as the term preacling has to the doctrine of good; and in like manner the terms malady and disease have a distinct reference to the disorders of life occasioned by the opposites to truth and good, viz., by falses and evils; and if each term had not this distinct reference, the mention of both would be needless tautology. The whole passage, at the same time, supplies a remarkable instance of the connexion of the sense of several seemingly unconnected expressions into one sense, by which mode of speaking and writing, the Worp or Gop is evidently dis- tinguished from every other book: for when mention is made of the three distinct acts of teaching, of preaching, and of healing, they appear in the letter, or literal sense, as three separate acts unconnected with each other; whereas in the 40 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. [CHAP. IV. spirit, or spiritual sense, though distinct they unite in one, teaching having respect to the illumination of the under- standing by truth, preaching to the reformation and purifica- tion of the will by good, and healing to the joint effect of — both in removing the falses and evils of the natural man or mind. . Verse 25. There followed Him many multitudes.—In our common version of the New Testament, what is here rendered many, is called great ; but the original term is πολλοι, which literally has reference to number, and denotes many, whereas great is expressed in the original Greek by peyas. But there is yet another reason why the expression many ought to be here adopted in preference to great, and thatis, because of the internal sense of each expression; many being constantly applied in reference to truth, because truth is more a subject of number, and great being applied in reference to good, be- cause good is not so much a subject of number as of quality. MATTHEW. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER V. 1. Anp seeing the multi- tudes, He went up into the mountain ; and when He was sat, His disciples came to Him. 2. And opening His mouth He taught them, saying, 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs isthe kingdom of the heavens. 4, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be com- forted. 5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be satisfied. THE INTERNAL SENSE. Trura Divine, in conjune- tion with Divine Good in the Lord’s Divine Humanity, in- structs the church by the Word. Verses 1, 2. Teaching that they have conjunction of life with the Lorp who acknowledge in heart that no one knows, under- stands, and is wise of himself, but from the Lorp, since in this acknowledgement there is internal truth and _ good. Verse 3. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who are in spiritual desolations, because those desolations are succeeded by a clearer percep- tion of good and truth from the Lord. Verse 4. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who restrain the lusts of the exter- nal or natural man, because in such case the external or natural man becomes recep- tive of the truth and good of charity. Verse 5. And that they have conjune- tion of life with the Lorp, who are in the affection of good and 42 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9. Blessed are the peace- makers, for they shall be called ᾿ the sons of God. 10. Blessed are they that are persecuted for the sake of justice, for theirs is the king- dom of the heavens. 11. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute, and say every evil saying against you, telling lies, for My sake. 12. Rejoice ye and be glad, for your reward is much in the heavens; for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you. 13. Ye are the salt of the earth; but if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted ? Itis thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14. Ye are the light of the THE GOSPEL ACCORDING (CHAP. V. truth, because good and truth from the LorpD are in that affection. Verse 6. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who shew mercy to others, because they receive the Lorp’s mercy in the same degree. Verse 7. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who reject the love of evil, because they are enlightened by Divine Truth in the intellectual prin- ciple. Verse 8. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who subdue the concupiscences of evil, because they are regene- rated of the Lorp. Verse 9. And that they have conjunc- tion of life with the Lorp, who fight and conquer in tempta- tions, which are from hell, because thereby the internal man is opened to, and hath communication with, heavenly goods and truths. Verse 10. And that all goods and truths derived from the Word, and received by man, are more closely conjoined with the Lorp, and more fully con- firmed in states of opposition from infernal spirits, than at any other time, and that this . has been the case from the beginning. Verses 11, 12. ᾿ς That the affection of truth from the Lorp constitutes the church, but not truth without its affection, such truth being of no use whatsoever. Verse 18. That Divine Truth and the CHAP. V.| world.