The word “woman” is used a number of different ways in the Bible – as a simple description, as someone connected to a man (“his woman”), as a temptation to the men of Israel (women of other nations) and even as a term of address (Jesus addresses Mary as “woman” twice).
There are also, according Swedenborg, various spiritual meanings, and context is important.
In most cases, Swedenborg says that a “woman” in the Bible represents a church, either a true one following the Lord or a false one out to deceive. This follows from the idea that the true character of an organization – or of an individual person – is determined by its goals, its mission, what it cares about most. This is well represented by women, because women are, according to Swedenborg, forms of affection and love at their innermost levels. Men, by contrast, are forms of thought and intellect, which appear to be prominent but actually play the secondary role of describing and supporting the defining loves and affections.
Swedenborg says the most central of a woman’s loves and affections is the love of what is true. This might sound odd, but “truth” is nothing more (or less) than love expressed — so it makes sense that those operating from love will delight in what’s true. On an individual scale this is central to the union between a wife and a husband: On an innermost level, the wife embraces the ideas generated by her husband and responds with love to the ones that are true (the ones that express love), and that response becomes a motivation that drives them as a couple. Meanwhile her love inspires her husband to seek more true ideas and greater wisdom, helping fuel a cycle of love and kindness.
It’s worth noting that Swedenborg describes this is an internal process involving our fundamental spiritual states, going on at levels beyond our active consciousness. Some take it to mean that women don’t think and men don’t feel, or that the scales of intelligence and caring are tipped between the two, which is ridiculous. But when husbands and wives conjoin, those complementary forms interlock to create something greater than either one could be alone.
The function of a church is similar (in ideal circumstances, anyway). The defining aspect of a church is its love for truth, and its defining activity is doing acts of kindness and caring — kindness and caring inspired by love and guided by truth.
Swedenborg says that “woman” can also have a more specific meaning, representing the love of truth that exists in a church, or simply the love of truth itself.
Not all churches are true, of course. The reason the people of Israel were so strongly forbidden to intermarry with the people that surrounded them was, according to Swedenborg, because the foreign women represented false churches and false beliefs. And for an Israeli woman to take a foreign husband represented introducing falsity into the true church.
Two other uses of “woman” are more limited, primarily to the Book of Genesis. One of them is Eve, the first woman, formed from the rib of Adam. In that story, Swedenborg says that Adam represents the pure church among early humans (the “Most Ancient Church“), and the woman represents what is usually called the “proprium,” a sense of self, of identity, of control that the Lord gave to people of the church at that time. In a way this fits with the more general representation, because the love of truth is an important way we can feel a sense of power in our own spiritual growth, but the representation of Eve is relatively unique.
Much of the rest of Genesis is, according to Swedenborg, dealing rather directly with the Lord’s own development during his childhood as Jesus. Since the Lord thought and felt more deeply than we can possibly imagine, the women in this stories – Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, Rachel and others – represent true ideas themselves, rather than affections for truth.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1470
- ‘Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon’ means that truth from a celestial origin is delightful. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a woman beautiful to look upon’. Every truth that is celestial, that is, which is brought forth from what is celestial, is a source of happiness in the internal man and of delight in the external; and among celestial angels truth is not perceived in any other way. It is altogether different however when it does not have a celestial origin. There are two kinds of happiness in the internal man to which two kinds of delight in the external man correspond. One belongs to good, the other to truth. Celestial happiness and delight go with good, spiritual happiness and delight with truth. Furthermore it is well known that truth holds happiness and delight within it, though these are essentially such only when the truth flows from what is celestial, and therefore when the truth itself becomes celestial and is called celestial truth. This truth may also be compared to the light of the sun in spring, which light carries within it the warmth which causes everything on earth to start to grow and so to speak to come alive. This celestial truth is beauty or beautifulness itself, and is the kind of truth meant here by the words ‘a beautiful woman to look upon’.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1484
- That ‘the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house’ means that they sought to capture the mind (animus) becomes clear from the meaning of ‘woman’ and from the meaning of ‘house’. ‘Woman’ means truth, here the truth present in types of knowledge, the delights of which captivated the Lord in childhood. The delights of truth are those coming from intellectual truth meant by ‘a sister’. ‘House’ means the things that reside in man, in particular those which belong to his will, as shown already in 710, here therefore those which belong to the mind (animus), or the affection for knowing and learning.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 151
- Verse 22 And Jehovah God built the rib which He took from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
‘Building means reconstructing that which has fallen down, ‘rib’ the proprium that has not been given life, ‘woman the proprium that has been given life by the Lord, ‘bringing her to the man’ that a proprium was granted to him. Since the descendants of this Church, unlike their ancestors, did not wish to be the celestial man, but to be their own guides and so set their heart on the proprium, they were allowed to have one. It was however a proprium given life by the Lord, which is why it is called ‘a woman’, and after that ‘a wife’.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 155
- These words, ‘a rib was built into a woman’, conceal, inmostly, more than anyone can possibly know from the letter. For the Word of the Lord is such that inmostly it focuses on the Lord Himself and His kingdom. This is the source of a11 the life of the Word. Here likewise it is the heavenly marriage that is focused inmostly. Such is the nature of the heavenly marriage that it exists within the proprium, and such is its nature that a proprium given life by the Lord is called the Lord’s Bride, and also Wife. The proprium given life in this way by the Lord is enabled to perceive every good that stems from love, and every truth of faith. It therefore possesses all wisdom and intelligence coupled with an indescribable happiness.
[2] But the nature of this proprium – the Lord’s Bride and Wife – that has been given life cannot be described in a few words. Let just this be said, that angels perceive that they live from the Lord, and yet when not reflecting on the matter they have no other idea than that they live from themselves. But there is a universal affection by which they sense that a change has taken place when they retreat only slightly from the good that stems from love, or from the truth of faith. Consequently they experience a peace and happiness that is indescribable when the general perception exists with them that they live from the Lord. It is this proprium too that is meant in Jeremiah, where it is said,
Jehovah has created a new thing on the earth, a woman will surround a man. Jer. 31:12.
It is the heavenly marriage that is meant in this quotation too, the ‘woman’ meaning the proprium given life by the Lord. The woman is said ‘to surround’, because the proprium by nature surrounds, just as a rib made flesh surrounds the heart.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 250
- Verse 15 And I will put enmity between you and thewoman, and between your seed and her seed. He will tread down your head, and you will bruise His heel.
Nobody today is unaware that this is the first prediction concerning the Lord’s Coming into the world; indeed it is quite clear from the words themselves. From them and from the Prophets the Jews also know that a Messiah is going to come. But nobody as yet knows what the serpent, the woman, the seed of the serpent, the seed of the woman, the head of the serpent which He will tread down, and the heel which the serpent will bruise, are used to mean in particular. Therefore these must be explained. ‘The serpent’ is here used to mean in general all evil, and in particular self-love. ‘The woman’ is used to mean the Church, ‘the seed of the serpent ‘all faithlessness, ‘the seed of the woman’ faith in the Lord, ‘He’ the Lord Himself, ‘the head of the serpent’ the reign of evil in general, and of self-love in particular. ‘Treading down’ is used to mean forcing down so that it goes on its belly and eats dust, and ‘the heel’ the lowest part of the natural which is the bodily, which the serpent will bruise.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 262
- ‘The woman’ means the Church, as stated already. At this point it means the Church when corrupted by the proprium, which up to now is what ‘woman’ has meant, because the subject is the generation of the descendants of the Most Ancient Church which had become corrupted.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2516
- ‘Behold, you will die because of the woman’ means that the doctrine of faith would be ruined if the rational were consulted as regards the contents of that doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of Abimelech, to whom ‘you’ refers here, as the doctrine of faith; from the meaning of ‘dying’ as being brought to ruin; and from the meaning of ‘a sister’, called ‘the woman’ here, as the rational, dealt with in 2508. Consequently the statement that Abimelech would die because of the woman means that the doctrine of faith would be brought to ruin if the rational were consulted.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 252
- The woman’ is used to mean the Church. This becomes clear from the heavenly marriage, dealt with above in 155. The heavenly marriage is one in which heaven, and so the Church, is united to the Lord by means of the proprium, even to the extent of it existing within the proprium itself; for if there is no proprium the union does not exist. And when the Lord from His mercy instills into this proprium innocence, peace, and good, it still looks like the proprium, but it is now something heavenly and richly blessed; see what has been said already in 164. But the nature of the heavenly and angelic proprium obtained from the Lord on the one hand, and the nature of the hellish and devilish proprium deriving from self on the other, defies description. The difference is like that between heaven and hell.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 253
- It is by virtue of the heavenly and angelic proprium that in the Word the Church is called woman (mulier) as well as wife, and also bride, virgin, and daughter. That it is called ‘a woman’ may be seen in Revelation,
A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And the dragon pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. Rev. 12:1, 4, 5, 13.
Here ‘the woman’ is used to mean the Church, ‘the sun’ to mean love, ‘the moon’ faith, ‘the stars’ truths of faith, as previously, which things evil spirits hate and persecute with all their might. That the Church is called ‘a woman’ as well as ‘a wife’ may be seen in Isaiah,
For your Maker is your Husband,* Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth He is called. For Jehovah has called you like awoman forsaken and grieved in spirit and a wife of youth. Isa. 54:5, 6.
Here ‘Maker’ and ‘Husband’ are plural nouns because the proprium is the subject as well as [the Church]. ‘A woman forsaken’ and ‘a wife of youth’ stand in particular for the Ancient Church and the Most Ancient. Similarly in Malachi,
Jehovah was a witness between you and the wife of your youth. Mal. 2:14.
That the Church is called ‘wife’ and ‘bride’ may be seen in Revelation,
I saw the holy city, [the new] Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb Rev. 21:2, 9.
And calling the Church a virgin and a daughter is a common occurrence in the Prophets.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3030
- ‘Perhaps the woman is not willing to go after me to this land’ means doubt in the natural man as to whether that affection was separable. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the woman’ as truth, here truth from the natural, that was to be joined to the Divine good of the Rational, though as all joining together is effected by means of affection, as stated above in 3024, ‘the women’ accordingly means the affection for that truth; and from the meaning of ‘going after me’, or following, ‘to this land’ as being separated from the natural and joined to the Rational, for ‘land’ here, as above in 3026, means the good of love which belongs to the Rational.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6916
- ‘And let a woman ask of her female neighbour, and of the female guest in her house’ means that everyone’s good will be enriched with such things as are suited to it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘a woman as an affection for the good of charity, dealt with in 6014; from the meaning of ‘female neighbour’ as an affection for truth which is present in those who are in possession of factual knowledge; and from the meaning of ‘the female guest in the house’ as an affection for good which is also present in them. And because it was her female neighbour and the female guest in her house whom she was to ask, the truths and forms of good which are nearest to it and so suited to it are meant. The implications of all this are clear from the matters discussed just above in 6914. The reason why a woman had to do the asking is that ‘a woman’ means the good of charity, and this is what is to be enriched; for if good is to be good truths must be present to give it a particular quality. The reason for this is that when one leads a life in accordance with truths, the actual truths are made forms of good, which means that the particular quality which truth possesses becomes that which good possesses. After that this good receives and links to itself no truths other than those in keeping with its particular duality, consequently to none apart from those which are suited to it, thus are in the neighbouring area and in its house.
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[2] But those imbued with truth to which delight has been joined are the ones who are meant here in the internal sense by slaves who come with a woman; for ‘woman’ means good when ‘man’ means truth. Here however delight is meant, since this exists in place of good in a member of the external Church. The good which such a person possesses does not spring from a spiritual origin but from a natural origin, for it savours of a delight to do the truth in life and to teach it for the sake of gain or important position, consequently for a selfish reason. This is why the word ‘delight’ is used and not ‘good’. To outward appearance it does indeed seem like good; but because it is natural good, that is, has a worldly origin, not a heavenly one, it is called delight.
[3] Good that springs from a spiritual origin however is meant in the internal sense by the woman whom a master gives to his slave. But it cannot be joined [to truth]; and that was why it was stipulated that when the slave went out the woman was to be the master’s, as also were her sons and daughters. For spiritual good is good not for the sake of gain or important positions but for the sake of the Church and the spiritual welfare of the neighbour. Such good cannot be joined to those confined to the outward things of the Church, since it is the genuine good of charity, springing out of love and affection. Those confined to the outward things of the Church cannot have any affection for the truths of faith without putting themselves first and the Church second. Though such people can indeed act in accordance with truths, thus can do good, they do not act from affection but out of obedience. These are the ones who are meant in the internal sense by those who wish to remain slaves forever.
AE 555
[2] That a woman signifies the church as to the affection for truth, and thence the affection for the truth of the church, is clear from the following passages in the Word.
Thus in Jeremiah:
“Wherefore commit ye evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of Judah?” (xliv. 7).
Again, in the same prophet:
“I will disperse man and woman; I will disperse old and young, and I will disperse the young man and the virgin” (li. 22).
So in Ezekiel:
“The old man and young man, both the virgin, the infant, and the women, slay to destruction” (ix. 6).
And in Lamentations:
“They ravished the women in Zion, and the virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes were hanged up by their hand; the faces of elders were not honoured” (v. 11, 12).
Here, by man and woman, old man and infant, youth and virgin, are not meant man, woman, old man, infant, youth, and virgin, but everything pertaining to the church. By man and woman are signified truth and its affection, by old man and infant, wisdom and innocence, by youth and virgin, the understanding of truth and the affection for good. That such things are signified is evident from the fact that the church is treated of in these chapters, and its desolation as to its good and truth, wherefore by those names are signified such things as pertain to the church. For the Word is interiorly spiritual, because it is Divine, wherefore if by man andwoman, old man and infant, young man and virgin, such were meant, the Word would be natural and not spiritual; but when by man and woman is meant the church as to truth and its affection, by old man and infant, the church as to wisdom and innocence, and by young man and virgin, the church as to intelligence and its affection, then it becomes spiritual. Man also is man, by virtue of the church being in him, and where the church is, there is heaven. When, therefore, mention is made of an old man, a young man, a male infant (homo infans), a male (homo vir), a woman, and a virgin, these expressions signify whatever pertains to the church, corresponding to their age, sex, inclination, affection, intelligence, and wisdom.
[3] That by woman is signified the church as to the affection for truth, or the affection for the truth of the church, is also clear from these words in Isaiah:
“Then seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name; take away our reproach” (iv. 1).
The subject here is the end of the church, when there is no longer any truth, for these words precede: “Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy strength in the war” (iii. 25), which signify that the understanding of truth would be destroyed by falsities, so that there would be no longer resistance in combats; and these words follow: “In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious” (iv. 2). This is said concerning the coming of the Lord, and signifies that truth should spring up anew in the church. By seven women taking hold of one man, is signified that from affection they would desire and seek truth, but would not find it, man denoting truth, women affections or desires for truth, and seven what is holy. That they would not find instruction in genuine truths, and thus spiritual nourishment, is signified by their saying, “We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel,” bread denoting instruction and spiritual nourishment, and apparel truth clothing good. That it is truth only which can be applied, and by application conjoined, is signified by, only let us be called by thy name. And because all beauty is from the spiritual affection for truth and conjunction therefrom, and otherwise there is no beauty, therefore it is added, “take away our reproach.”
[4] So in Jeremiah:
“Return, O virgin of Israel, return into thy cities. How long wilt thou go about? for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth, Awoman shall compass a man” (xxxi. 21, 22).
The subject here is the spiritual captivity in which the church was before the coming of the Lord. The church is said to be in spiritual captivity, when there is no truth, and yet truth is desired; in such captivity were the Gentiles, with whom the church was established. Return, O virgin of Israel, return into thy cities, signifies, that they should return to the truths of doctrine, the virgin of Israel denoting the church, and her cities truths of doctrine; for Jehovah hath created a new thing in the earth, awoman shall compass a man, signifies the establishment of a new church, in which truth will be conjoined to its affection. To create a new thing in the earth denotes to establish that new thing;woman denotes the church as to the affection for truth, man denotes truth, and to compass denotes to be conjoined.
[5] And in Isaiah:
“As a woman forsaken and afflicted in spirit, Jehovah hath called thee, and a woman of youth, when she is cast off, said thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee again” (liv. 6, 7).
Here also by a woman forsaken and afflicted in spirit, is meant the church, which is not in truths, but still in the affection or desire for them, woman denoting the church, which is said to be forsaken when it is not in truths, and afflicted in spirit, when in grief from the affection or desire for truths. By a woman of youth is meant the Ancient Church, which was in truths from affection; and by the same cast off, is meant the Jewish church, which was not in truths from any spiritual affection; the establishment of a new church by the Lord, and liberation from spiritual captivity, are meant by, “for a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee again.”
[6] And in Jeremiah:
“Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear perceive the word of his mouth, that ye may teach your sons mourning, and a woman her companion, lamentation. For death is come up through the windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the infant from the broad way, and the young man from the streets” (ix. 20, 21).
The reason why it was said to the women, that they should hear and perceive, is, that they signify the church from the affection for and reception of truth. By the sons whom the women should teach mourning, and by the companion whom a woman should teach lamentation, are signified all who are of the church; by sons, they who are in the truths of the church; by companion, she who is in the good thereof, while mourning and lamentation signify that these things were to be done on account of the church vastated as to its truths and good; by death is come up through the windows, and is entered into our palaces, is signified the entrance of infernal falsity into the understanding, and thence into everything of thought and affection, windows denoting the understanding, and palaces, everything, of thought and affection; to cut off the infant from the broad way, and the young man from the streets, signifies the vastation of truth in the birth, and of the truth that is born, infant in the broad way denoting truth springing up, or in the birth, and young men in the streets denoting the truth that is born.
[7] So in Ezekiel:
“There were two women, the daughters of one mother, and they committed whoredoms in Egypt; they committed whoredoms in their youth; the name of the elder, Oholah, and the name of her sister, Oholibah; and they bare sons and daughters. Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem Oholibah” (xxiii. 2-4).
Since Samaria, the metropolis of the Israelites, signifies, in the Word, the spiritual church, and Jerusalem, the metropolis of the Jews, the celestial church, each as to doctrine, therefore they are called women. And, because both those churches act as one, they are therefore called the daughters of one mother, for a mother also signifies the church, and also Oholah and Oholibah, or the tent or habitation of God, have the same signification, for this signifies heaven where Divine Truth and Divine Good are, consequently, also, where the church is; for the church is the heaven of the Lord on earth. By their committing whoredom in Egypt in their youth, is signified, that they were then in no truths, but in falsities, for in Egypt they had not the Word. This was afterwards given to them through Moses and the prophets, and thus the church was instituted among them. To commit whoredom in Egypt, signifies, to falsify truths by scientifics (scientifica) pertaining to the natural man, and to falsify truths there, denotes to turn holy things into magic, as the Egyptians did. The sons and daughters whom they brought forth, signify the falsities and evils of the church.
[8] So in Micah:
“Ye strip the coat from them that pass by securely that are returned from war. The women of my people have ye cast out from the house of their delights” (ii. 8, 9).
Here, by stripping the coat from them that pass by securely who are returned from war, is signified to deprive of truths all those who are in truths, and who have combated against falsities. Those who pass by securely denote all those who are in truths; men returning from war, denote those who have been in temptations, and have combated against falsities. By casting out the women of the people from the houses of their delights, signifies to destroy the affections for truth, and thereby the pleasures and happiness of heaven. The women of the people denote the affections for truth, and the houses of their delights the pleasures and happiness of heaven, for these are the affections, for good and truth.
[9] So in Zechariah:
“For I will gather all nations to Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women shall suffer violence” (xiv. 2).
By all nations are signified evils and falsities of every kind; by Jerusalem is signified the church; by city, doctrine; by house, everything that is holy of the church; by women are signified the affections for truth, and by their suffering violence is signified that truths shall be perverted, and that thence the affections for truth will perish.
[10] So again, in the same prophet:
“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, and the land shall mourn every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their women apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their women apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their women apart; the family of Simeon apart, and their women apart; all the families that remain, every family apart, and their women apart” (xii. 11-14).
The signification of David and his house, also of Nathan, Levi, and Simeon, and their houses, has been already shown in the explanations above. David signifies the Divine Truth, Nathan, the doctrine of truth, Levi, the good of charity, and Simeon means truth and good as to perception and obedience. It is said that the families shall mourn apart, and their women apart, because by families are signified the truths of the church, and by women, the affections for truth which mourn apart when truth mourns that there is no affection for it, and affection, that there is no truth for it. These things are said concerning the mourning over all and every thing pertaining to the church as being vastated and destroyed, for each and all things of the church are signified by all the families that remain, by which are meant the tribes. That the twelve tribes signify all things of the church in the aggregate, may be seen above (n. 430, 431). Jerusalem signifies the church and its doctrine.
[11] Thus also in Matthew:
“Then shall two be in the field, the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill, and one shall be taken, and the other left” (xxiv. 40, 41).
The “two” (duo) mean men, and the “two” (duoe) mean women and by men are signified those who are in truths, and by women those who are in good from the affection for truth. Here also by men are signified those who are in falsities, and by women, those who are in, evils from affection for falsity; for it is said that one shall be taken, and the other shall be left; that is, that those will be saved who are in truths from affection, and those will be condemned who are in evils from affection. Field signifies the church; to grind at the mill, signifies to procure for themselves truths of doctrine from the Word; while those who apply them to good are signified by those who shall be taken, and those who apply them to evil are signified by those who shall be left; but this passage is explained in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 4334, 4335).
[12] So in Moses:
“I will break for you the staff of your bread, that ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight; and ye shall eat and not be satisfied” (Levit. xxvi. 26).
These words in the spiritual sense, mean that truth from good, by which men are spiritually nourished, shall fail; for bread signifies every kind of spiritual food that is for the nourishment of the man of the church. Women signify those of the church who are in the affection for truth. By ten women baking bread in one oven, is signified, that they shall search for truth that may be conjoined to good, but shall only find a very little; for to bake signifies to prepare and conjoin so as to serve for the use of life. To deliver the bread by weight, signifies that it is rare; and to eat and not be satisfied, signifies, because truth from good is so scanty and rare, as scarcely to yield any spiritual nourishment for the soul.
[13] Again, in Moses:
“A woman shall not wear the raiment of a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth so is abomination unto Jehovah thy God” (Deut. xxii. 5).
Here a man (vir) and his raiment signify truth, and a woman and her garment the affection for truth. These are distinct in every man (homo), as understanding and will, or as thought which is of the understanding and affection which is of the will, and unless they were distinct, the sexes would be confounded, and no marriage would be effected, in which the man (vir) is the truth of the thought, and the woman the affection. That man and woman were both so created that they might be two and yet one, is evident from the book of Genesis, in which it is said concerning their creation, “So God created man (homo) into his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Gen. i. 27; v. 2).
[14] And afterwards:
“The man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; therefore she shall be called wife, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh” (Gen. ii. 23, 24; Mark x. 6-9).
Here, by man (homo) is meant the church in general and in particular. The church in particular is the man of the church, or the man in whom the church is. By God creating man into His own image, is signified into the image of heaven. For by God, or Elohim, in the plural, is signified the proceeding Divine which makes heaven; and the man who is a church, is a heaven in the least form, for he corresponds to all things of heaven; see Heaven and Hell (n. 7-12, 51-58). By male is signified here, as above, the truth of the understanding, and by female, the good of the will. The wife said to be bone of the bones, and flesh of the flesh of the man (vir), signifies that good, which is the wife, is from the truth which is the man. Bone signifies truth before it is vivified, that is, conjoined to good, such as is the truth of the memory with man; and since all good is formed from truths, it is said, “because she was taken out of man.” That a man (vir) shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, signifies that truth must be of good, and that hence both shall become one good; this is signified by their being one flesh, flesh signifying good, and also man (homo). The things now stated cannot enter into the understanding of man, with few exceptions, unless it be known that the subject treated of in the first two chapters of Genesis is the new creation, or regeneration of the men of the church. In the first chapter their regeneration is treated of, in the second chapter their intelligence and wisdom; and by male and female, or by man (vir) and wife, is meant, in the spiritual sense, the conjunction of truth and good, which is called the heavenly marriage. Into this marriage man comes when he is regenerated and becomes a church; and man is regenerated and becomes a church when he is in good and thence in truths, which is meant by the words “a man (vir) shall leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” But a still clearer idea may be obtained, upon this subject, from what is said in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, concerning good and truth (n. 11-19); concerning the will and understanding (n. 28-33); concerning regeneration (n. 173-182); also concerning good from which truths are derived (n. 24).
[15] Since by man and woman is signified the conjunction of truth and good, therefore Moses, when he saw that the sons of Israel took to themselves the female captives of the Midianites their enemies, commanded that they should kill every woman that had known man (vir) by lying with him, but that they should keep alive the women that had not known [man] (Num. xxx. 16-18). These things were commanded because a woman (femina) not conjoined to a man signified the church as to the affection for truth, or for conjunction with truth; but a woman (mulier) conjoined to a Midianitish man, signified good adulterated. For the Midianites represented, and thence signified, the truth which is not truth because not from good, consequently falsity; and hence it was that the women were to be slain who had known man, and that those who had not known man were to be preserved alive. That the Midianitish women signified the defilement of good by falsities, and thence good adulterated and profaned, which is foul adultery, is evident from the circumstances related concerning the whoredom of the sons of Israel with the women of the Midianites (Numbers xxv.).
[16] He who does not know that a woman signifies the spiritual affection for truth, and he who does not know that the evils and falsities which are present in every one are in the natural man, and not any in the spiritual man, cannot know the signification of that which is written concerning a female captive, in Moses:
“If thou seest in captivity a beautiful woman,” from thine enemies, “and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldst have her to thy wife; thou shalt bring her into the midst of thy house, where she shall shave her head and pare her nails; then she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and bewail her father and her mother a month of days, afterwards thou shalt go in unto her, and know her, and she shall be thy wife” (Deut. xxi. 11-13).
By a woman, is signified the church as to the spiritual affection for truth, or the spiritual affection for truth pertaining to the man of the church, but by a beautiful captive woman is signified the religion of the Gentiles in whom is the desire or affection for truth. By her being brought into the midst of the house, and there shaving her head, paring her nails, and afterwards putting the raiment of her captivity from off her, is signified being led into the interior or spiritual things of the church, and by means of them rejecting the evils and falsities of the natural and sensual man. The midst of the house signifies things interior, which are spiritual things; the hair of the head, that was to be shaved, signifies the falsities and evils of the natural man; the nails, that were to be pared, signify the falsities and evils of the sensual man; and the raiment of captivity signifies the falsity of the religion in which he who desires truth from affection is, as it were, held captive. The latter and the former things therefore he will reject, because they are in the natural and sensual man, as was said above. That she should bewail her father and mother a month of days, signifies that the evils and falsities of his religion should be buried in oblivion; that the man should afterwards go in unto her, and know her, and that she should be his wife, signifies that thus truth, which is the man (vir), should be conjoined with its affection, which is the wife (uxor).
No one can know why this statute was given, unless he understand, from the spiritual sense, what is signified by a womantaken captive from the enemy, what by the midst or inmost of the house, what by hair, nails, and the raiment of captivity, and unless he know something concerning the conjunction of truth and good, for on this conjunction are founded all the precepts in the Word concerning marriages. The church as to the affection for truth is also signified by the woman clothed with the sun, labouring to bring forth, before whom stood the dragon when she brought forth the man-child; and who afterwards fled into the wilderness (Rev. xii. 1 to end). That the woman here signifies the church, and the man-child whom she brought forth, the doctrine of truth, will be seen in the explanation below.
[17] Since a woman signifies the church as to the affection for truth from good, or the affection for truth from good pertaining to the man of the church, also in the opposite sense a womansignifies the lust of falsity from evil; for most things in the Word have also opposite significations. This is also signified in the following passages, by woman and women.
Thus in Jeremiah:
“Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The sons gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the heavens, and to pour out drink-offerings unto other gods” (vii. 17, 18).
What these prophecies involve, cannot be known, unless it be known what is signified by the cities of Judah, the streets of Jerusalem, the sons, the fathers, and the women, also what is signified by gathering wood, by kindling a fire, by kneading the dough, and what by cakes, by the queen of the heavens, and by drink-offerings; but when the significations of such things are known, and substituted in their place, then the spiritual sense involved in these prophecies results. The cities of Judah signify the doctrinals of the church; the streets of Jerusalem, the truths thereof; in the present case, falsities; sons denote those who are in truths of doctrine, in this case, those who are in falsities, who are said to gather wood when they procure for themselves falsities from evils. Fathers denote those who are in the goods of the church, in this case, those who are in evils, who are said to kindle a fire when they approve and excite from the love of evil. Women denote the affections for truth from good, in this case, the disorderly desires of falsity from evil; they are said to knead the dough, when they fabricate doctrine from these and according to them. To make cakes to the queen of the heavens, signifies to worship infernal evils of every kind, to make cakes denoting to worship from evils, and the queen of the heavens, denoting all evils in the aggregate; for the queen of heavens signifies the same as the host of the heavens. To pour out drink-offerings unto other gods signifies to worship from falsities, other gods denoting infernal falsities; for God, in a good sense, signifies proceeding Divine Truth, but other gods signify infernal falsities, which are falsities from evil.
[18] In Isaiah:
“As for my people, their oppressors, little children, and women rule over them. O my people, thy leaders cause thee to err, and have blotted out the way of thy paths” (iii. 12).
Oppressors, little children, and women, signify those who violate, are ignorant of, and pervert, truths. Oppressors mean those who violate truths; little children, those who are ignorant of them, and women, the lusts which pervert them. Thy leaders who cause to err, signify those who teach; to blot out the way of their paths, signifies so that truth which leads is not known.
[19] Again, in the same prophet:
“When the harvest withereth, they who break in pieces, the women shall come, and set it on fire; for it is a people of no understanding” (xxvii. 11).
This is said concerning the vastated church. By the harvest withering, are signified the truths of good destroyed by evil loves; by the women who set it on fire, are signified the lusts of falsity, which altogether consume.
[20] So again:
“Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye confident sons (filii); in your ears perceive my speech, for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come” (xxxii. 9, 10).
By the women who are at ease, are meant the lusts of those who care not that the church is vastated. The confident sons signify the falsities of those who trust in [their] own intelligence; women and sons signify all those who are such in the church, whether men or women; by the vintage which shall fail, and by the gathering which shall not come, is signified, that the truth of the church shall be no more; for vintage and vine both signify the truth of the church, whence the meaning of “the gathering” thereof is evident.
[21] Again, in Ezekiel:
“A just man (vir), who hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled the wife of his companion, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman” (xviii. 5, 6).
The man who has not eaten upon the mountains, is described as just, which signifies that his worship is not from infernal loves, for to sacrifice upon mountains and to eat of things sacrificed has this signification. Neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, signifies, that his worship is not from the falsities of doctrine, for idols signify those falsities, and the house of Israel signifies the perverted church where those falsities are. Neither hath defiled the wife of his companion, signifies, who does not adulterate the good of the church and of the Word. Neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, signifies, who does not defile truths by the lusts of falsity.
[22] So in Lamentations:
“The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children, so, that they became their food, in the breach of the daughter of my people” (iv. 10).
These words signify the destruction of the truth and good of doctrine from the Word by means of falsities, and the appropriation of those falsities, and the consequent vastation of the church. By the pitiful women are signified the affections for falsity as if it were truth. By their having sodden their children, is signified the destruction of the truths and goods of doctrine from the Word by falsities; by their being meat for them, is signified the appropriation of falsities; and by the breach of the daughter of my people, is signified the vastation of the church. Women also signify evil desires in the Apocalypse (xiv. 4; xvii. 3); concerning which see the explanation below.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 707
- A woman encompassed with the sun.- That this signifies the church with those who are in love to the Lord, and thence in love towards the neighbour, is evident from the signification of woman, as denoting the spiritual affection for truth, from which the church is a church, consequently also the church in regard to that affection (concerning which see above, n. 555) – it follows that this means a new church to be established by the Lord at the end of the present church in the Christian world; and from the signification of the sun, as meaning the Lord as to Divine Love, thus also love to the Lord from the Lord (concerning which also see above, n. 401, 412); and from the signification of being encompassed, as denoting to live from it; for the life of the love of every one, not only that of a man but also that of a spirit and of an angel, forms a sphere about them, from which they are perceived, as to their quality, even afar off. Also by means of that sphere consociations and conjunctions are effected in the heavens, and also in the hells. And because the subject here treated of is the church, which is in love to the Lord from the Lord, and because that church is meant by the woman, and that love by the sun, therefore the womanencompassed with the sun signifies the church with those who are in love to the Lord from the Lord.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 434
- They had hair like women’s hair. (9:8) This symbolically means that they seemed to themselves to have an affection for truth.
In the Word a man symbolizes an understanding of truth, and awoman an affection for truth, because a man is by birth a form of the intellect, and a woman a form of affection, as we say in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Marriage.* Hair in the Word symbolizes the lowest level of a person’s life, which is the sensual level, as said in no. 424. It is on this level that it seems to these people that they have an affection for truth, when in fact they have an affection for falsity, since they believe it to be true.
That a woman symbolizes an affection for truth can be seen from many passages in the Word. So it is that the church is called a wife, woman, daughter, and virgin. The church, moreover, is a church by virtue of its love or affection for truth, for this is what gives rise to an understanding of truth.
[2] The church is called a woman in the following places:
…there were two women, the daughters of one mother, (who) committed harlotry in Egypt…, Oholah (being) Samaria, and Oholibah (being) Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 23:2-4)
…Jehovah has called you like a woman forsaken and afflicted in spirit, and a youthful woman…. (Isaiah 54:6, 7)
…Jehovah has created a new thing in the earth�-�a woman shall encompass a man. (Jeremiah 31:21, 22)
The woman clothed with the sun, whom the dragon pursued (Revelation 12), symbolizes the New Church, which is the New Jerusalem.
Women symbolize affections for truth, by virtue of which the church is a church, in many other places, as in the following:
The women of My people you cast out from its delightful house. (Micah 2:9)
(The families of the houses shall mourn by themselves,) and…women by themselves…. (Zechariah 12:11-13)
Rise up, you women at ease, hear…my speech. (Isaiah 32:9)
Why do you do…evil…, to cut off from you man and woman…? (Jeremiah 44:7)
…I will scatter man and woman…. (Jeremiah 51:22)
A man and woman, here and elsewhere, mean, symbolically in the spiritual sense, an understanding of truth and an affection for truth.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 533
- A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet. This symbolizes the Lord’s New Church in heaven, which is the New Heaven, and the New Church to come on earth, which is the New Jerusalem.
That the woman here symbolizes the Lord’s New Church is clear from the particulars in this chapter, understood in their spiritual meaning. To be shown that a woman elsewhere in the Word also symbolizes the church, see no. 434. A woman symbolizes the church because the church is called the Lord’s bride and wife.
The woman here appeared clothed with the sun because the church is governed by love toward the Lord; for it acknowledges Him and keeps His commandments, and that is loving Him (John 14:21-24). That the sun symbolizes love may be seen in no. 53.
The moon appeared under the woman’s feet because it means the church on earth, which was not yet conjoined with the church in heaven. The moon symbolizes the intelligence in a natural person, and faith (no. 413). And its being seen under the woman’s feet means, symbolically, that it was a church to come on earth. Feet otherwise symbolize that same church after it has been conjoined.
Heaven and Hell (Dole) n. 368
- The reason for this kind of union of husband and wife on the deepest levels of their minds goes back to creation itself. The male is born to focus on cognitive processes, and therefore bases his thinking on his intellect. In contrast, the woman is born to focus on intentions, and therefore bases her thinking on her volition. We can see this from the tendency or innate nature of each as well as from their form. As to innate nature, men do act on the basis of reason, while women act on the basis of their feelings. As to form, the man has a rougher and less attractive face, a deeper voice, and a stronger body, while the woman has a softer and more attractive face, a gentler voice, and a softer body. This is like the difference between intellect and volition or between thought and affection. It is also like the difference between what is true and what is good or between faith and love, since truth and faith are matters of intellect, while good and love are matters of volition.
This is why a boy or a man, in the spiritual sense of the Word, means the discernment of truth, while a girl or woman means an affection for what is good. It is also why the church is called awoman or a girl on the basis of its affection for what is good and true and why everyone who is absorbed in an affection for what is good is called a young woman, as in the Book of Revelation 14:4.