According to Swedenborg, men in the Bible generally represent knowledge and truth and women generally represent love and the desire for good. These aspects are enhanced by marriage — when we bring knowledge and intention together and bind them to each other, we can accomplish great things. In many cases in the Bible, then, “husband” refers to things of truth and understanding, much as “man” does.
But in Swedenborg’s view of marriage, higher things are possible — which means “husband” can at times take on a higher meaning.
The case described is this:
In typical “good” marriages, even heavenly marriages, husbands are driven (on the deepest level) by the love of gathering knowledge, seeking truth and growing wise. Wives are driven (on the deepest level) by the love of wisdom itself — less about the process and more about the end result. If they open themselves to each other and trust each other they can grow in mutual wisdom and act together from love.
That is what Swedenborg would call a spiritual marriage: One based on understanding what is good and loving and acting on it.
But there is also the possibility of “celestial” marriage, which happens when the husband and wife together are in a pure state of love to the Lord, and hold that love as their sole motivation. In that state (described as common among early humans but exceedingly rare in the modern world) — the husband comes into a state of simply loving what is good, and the wife comes into a state of wisdom, expressing that love in the life they share.
So when the Bible is describing a celestial state, “husband” represents love and the desire for good, and “wife” represents the perception of truth that flows from love.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1468
- ‘That he said to Sarai his wife’ means that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied. This is clear from the meaning of ‘Sarai’ when she is called ‘a wife’. In the internal sense of the Word ‘a wife’ means nothing other than truth joined to good, for truth joined to good is altogether like a marriage. When the noun ‘husband’ (maritus) is used in the Word it means good and ‘wife’ means truth. But when instead of this another noun for ‘husband’ (vir) is used, it in that case means truth, and ‘wife’ means good; and this is a consistent usage in the Word, as also stated already in 915. Since ‘Abram’ has been mentioned by name in this passage, ‘Sarai his wife’ means truth. Thus the meaning of ‘he said to Sarai his wife’ is in the internal sense that He thought in the following way about truths to which celestial things were allied.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3236
- ‘Abraham’ here represents the Lord as regards Divine Spiritual Good, and his wife as regards Divine Truth allied to that Good. This becomes clear from what has been stated already about husbands and wives (maritus and uxor) – that ‘the husband’ represents good, and ‘the wife’ truth, as Abraham and Sarah did previously, 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2172, 2173, 2198, 2904, and as Isaac and Rebekah did in the chapter before this, 3077. The reason why ‘the husband’ represents good and ‘the wife’ truth is that the Church is compared to a marriage, and also is a marriage of good and truth. Good is what the husband represents because this is primary, while truth is what the wife represents because that is secondary. This also is why in the Word the Lord is called bridegroom, man, and husband, while the Church is called bride, woman, and wife.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4823
[2] In the Word the expression ‘man and wife’ (vir et uxor) is used many times, as also is ‘husband and wife’ (maritus et uxor). When ‘man and wife’ is used, ‘man’ means truth and ‘wife’ good; or in the contrary sense ‘men’ means falsity and ‘wife’ evil. But when ‘husband and wife’ is used, ‘husband’ means good and ‘wife’ truth; or in the contrary sense ‘husband’ means evil and ‘wife’ falsity. The reason underlying this arcanum is this In the celestial Church good resided with the husband and the truth of that good with the wife; but in the spiritual Church truth resided with the man and the good of that truth with the wife: Such is and was the actual relationship between the two, for in human beings interior things have undergone this reversal. This is the reason why in the Word, when celestial good and celestial truth from this are the subject, they are called ‘husband and wife’, but when spiritual good and spiritual truth from this are dealt with, these are called ‘man and wife’, or rather ‘man and woman’ (vir et mulier). From this, as well as from the actual expressions used, one can come to know which kind of good and which kind of truth are being dealt with in the internal sense of the Word.
[3] Here also is the reason why it has been stated already in various places that marriages represent the joining of good to truth, and of truth to good. Furthermore conjugial love has its origin in these two joined together. Among celestial people conjugial love has its origin in good joined to truth, but among spiritual people in truth joined to good. Marriages also correspond in actual fact to these joinings together.