Why would it be insulting for a man to refer to his married partner as his “first wife”? Because it implies there will be a second! That’s part of the the nature of being first: it means something must be second, and very likely other things that are third, fourth and so on.
That second thing, though, must be similar to the first – and that similarity must be the most important element of the category they share. For instance, say you have a bicycle race and someone shows up with a motorcycle. You wouldn’t let him compete, despite the fact that his vehicle has two wheels. Someone else shows up with a pedal-driven tricycle. It doesn’t have two wheels, but you’d probably let him compete because in the key element – being powered by human legs pushing pedals – his tricycle is the same as the bicycles.
The “first” of anything, then, contains the key elements of all that follow. This idea is important in how Swedenborg sees the use of “first” in the Bible, though it is applied in a number of ways.
In some casual references Swedenborg says “first” has a pretty literal meaning, as the beginning of a group. On a deeper level, the “first” represents the entire group. In connection with measurements of time – days, months, hours etc. – it means the beginning of a new spiritual state. It is also used in connection with the Lord, who is the “first” of all existence, because everything is a product of the Lord’s love.
“First” is perhaps most commonly used, however, to represent what people love and desire, because what we love and desire is “first” in us, with our thoughts and intellect following. If we love people around us and desire to serve them, our ideas will follow and find ways to do it. It does not, however, work the other way around – having ideas of how to be good won’t mean anything if we lack the desire to be good. Our loves, then, contain the key elements of all that we are.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4029
4029. ‘So it was, whenever those came on heat – those of the flock which came together first’ means the things that were spontaneous. This is clear from the meaning of ‘coming on heat’ as an intense desire, and the effect that resulted from this, dealt with above in 4018, 4019; from the meaning of ‘the flock’ as truth and good, also dealt with above; and from the meaning of ‘those coming togetherfirst’ as things that are spontaneous. This meaning of ‘those which came together first’ – namely things that are spontaneous – is evident from the sequence of thought in the internal sense. It is in addition evident from the consideration that anything done from affection is spontaneous, very much so when done from an intense desire, meant by ‘coming on heat’ – hence the use twice in this verse of the expression ‘coming on heat’. And the meaning of ‘those which came together first’ is still further evident from the derivation of this expression in the original language as becoming joined together through deepest love, as well as from the subject here being the joining of truth and good in the natural which is effected only through that which is spontaneous, that is, done in freedom. From all this it may be seen that ‘whenever those came on heat – those of the flock which came together first’ or ‘wherever those from the flock which came together first came on heat’ means truths and goods which are spontaneous, that is, which are the product of freedom, or what amounts to the same, of deepest affection.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7828
7828. ‘The first shall it be for you in the months of the year’ means the starting point of all states following for evermore. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being the first’, when used in reference to months of the year and in the internal sense to states of life, as the starting point; from the meaning of ‘the months’ as states, dealt with immediately above in 7827; and from the meaning of ‘the year’ as the period of life from start to finish, dealt with in 2906.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7887
7887. ‘Even on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses’ means that there must be no falsity whatever in good. This is clear from the meaning of the first ‘day’ as the beginning of that state, day’ being state, see just above in 7881; from the meaning of ‘yeast’ as falsity, dealt with below; and from the meaning of ‘house’ as good, dealt with in 2233, 2134, 2559, 3652, 3720, 7837-7835, 7848. From these meanings it is evident that ‘on the first day you shall remove yeast from your houses’ means that from the very beginning of that state there must be no falsity whatever in good.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7891
7891. ‘And on the first day there shall be a holy convocation’ means that at the beginning all must be together. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the first day’ as the beginning, that is to say, of the deliverance from those who have molested, and so from damnation; and from the meaning of ‘a holy convocation’ as the regulation that all must be together.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9300
9300. ‘The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of [Jehovah] your God’ means that every truth of good and every good of truth is holy because it comes from the Lord alone. This is clear from the meaning of ‘the firstfruits of the ground’ as the truth that the Church’s forms of good and its truths must be attributed to the Lord alone (for these are meant by ‘the firstfruits’, see 9223, and the Church by ‘the ground’, 566, 1068), the expression ‘the first of the firstfruits’ being used because that truth must be paramount, since forms of good and truths receive their life from the Lord, that is, they receive it from the Lord when they are attributed to Him; and from the meaning of ‘bringing into the house of God’ as bringing them to the Lord, in order that they may be holy (for ‘the house of God’ is the Lord, see 3720, and everything holy comes from the Lord, 9229).
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10044
[5] Since highest and lowest, or what amounts to the same thing, first and last, equally mean every single thing, or the whole with all its parts, the Lord’s Omnipotence and Omniscience is described by the words stating that He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, Rev. 1:8; 21:6; 22:13; Isa. 41:4.
Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 10138
10138. For the first lamb. That this signifies these things in the internal man, is evident from the signification of “the first lamb,” or that which was offered as a burnt-offering in the morning, as being the good of innocence in the internal man (see above, n. 10134).
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 38
38. Saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” (1:11) This symbolically means, who is the one and only reality from firsts to lasts, from whom springs all else, thus who is the one and only love, the one and only wisdom, and the one and only life in itself, and so the one and only Creator, Savior and Enlightener from Himself, and therefore the all in all of the church and heaven, who alone is infinite and eternal, and Jehovah, and who is the Lord.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 82
82. “‘Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left yourfirst charity.'” (2:4) This symbolically means, but this is against them, that they do not hold goods of life in first place, as they did, however, before, and as people do at the beginning of every church.
This statement is addressed to the church of Ephesus, because it means people in the church who regard doctrinal truths primarily or in first place, and not goods of life (no. 73), even though goods of life ought to be regarded in first place or primarily. For to the extent that a person is engaged in good endeavors in his life, to the same extent he is in possession of doctrinal truths really, but not the reverse. The reason is that goods of life open the inner recesses of the mind, and when these have been opened, truths appear in their own light, causing them to be not only understood, but also loved. Not so when doctrinal teachings are regarded primarily or in first place. Truths may indeed be known then, but they cannot be seen interiorly or loved with a spiritual affection. However, more light may be shed on this in no. 17 above.
In its beginning, every church regards goods of life in first place, and secondly doctrinal truths. But as a church declines, it begins to regard doctrinal truths in first place, and secondly goods of life. And in the end it at last regards faith only, and it not only divorces goods of charity from faith then, but even gives up practice of them.
It can be seen from this now that the statement, “You have left yourfirst charity,” means, symbolically, that they do not hold goods of life in first place, as they did, however, before, and as people do at the beginning of every church.
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 130
130. “‘And your works, and the last more than the first.'” This symbolizes the growth of all the above from an affection for spiritual truth, which is an affection connected with charity.
The last works that are more than the first mean everything connected with the people’s charity and faith, for these are the inner qualities from which works spring (nos. 73, 76, 94). These have their growth when charity is in first place and faith in second place. For charity is a spiritual affection for doing good, and from it springs a spiritual affection for knowing truth, since good loves truth as food does drink. Indeed it wishes to be nourished, and it is nourished by truths. As a consequence, people in a state of genuine charity experience continual growths of truth.
This, then, is what is symbolically meant by “I know your last works to be more than the first.”
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 28
28. The first-born from the dead. That this signifies from whom is all good in heaven, is evident from the signification of first-born, when said of the Lord, as denoting the Divine good in heaven, thus all good there. The reason why this is signified by first-born, is, because by generations, in general and in particular, are signified spiritual generations, which are those of good and truth, or of love and faith. Therefore, by father, mother, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and sons’ sons, are signified the goods and truths which generate, and which are generated, in their order (Arcana Coelestia, n. 10,490). For in heaven there are no other nativities; and, this being the case, by first-born is not meant first-born, but the good of heaven and the church, because this is in the chief place. Now, because all good in heaven exists from the Lord, therefore He is called the First-born.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 113
113. These things saith the first and the last. That this signifies the Lord, who rules all things from the Divine Human, from primaries by means of ultimates, is evident from the signification of the firstand the last, when said of the Lord, as being His ruling all things from primaries by means of ultimates (concerning which see above, n. 41).