{"id":11634,"date":"2016-04-24T17:55:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-24T21:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11634"},"modified":"2016-04-24T17:55:09","modified_gmt":"2016-04-24T21:55:09","slug":"valley","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Swedenborg<\/a> says that mountains in the Bible<\/a> represent people\u2019s highest, most internal<\/a> points, where we are closest to the Lord<\/a> \u2013 our love<\/a> of the Lord and the state of caring<\/a> for one another. By extension, then, it makes sense that valleys represent our lowest points, the ones most distant from the Lord: Our external<\/a>, bodily lives in the day-to-day world.<\/p>\n

Valleys can also represent the external level of other things, depending on context. For instance, the Valley of Shinar, where the Tower of Babel was built, represents the external state<\/a> of worship<\/a> people had at the time. And in Genesis 26:19, when Isaac\u2019s servants dig a well in a valley, it represents the search for\u00a0true ideas<\/a> in the external, literal sense of the Bible.<\/p>\n

\n

Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1723<\/b><\/p>\n

1723. ‘At the\u00a0valley\u00a0of Shaveh, which is the king’s\u00a0valley’ means the state of the External Man as regards goods and truths at that time. This becomes clear from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0valley\u00a0of Shaveh’ and also of the ‘king’s\u00a0valley’. ‘The\u00a0valley\u00a0of Shaveh’ means the goods of the External Man, ‘the king’s\u00a0valley’ the truths of the same Man. The External Man is called ‘a\u00a0valley’ on account of its being below. That which is more external is also lower, just as that which is more internal is also higher. That ‘a king’ means truth has been stated already in 1672.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1292<\/b><\/p>\n

1292. That ‘they found a\u00a0valley\u00a0in the land of Shinar’ means that worship became more unclean and unholy is clear from the meaning of ‘a\u00a0valley’ and from the meaning of ‘the land of Shinar’. As regards the meaning of ‘a\u00a0valley’, in the Word ‘mountains’ means love or charity because these are the highest points, or what amounts to the same, inmost features of worship, as shown already in 795. Consequently ‘a\u00a0valley’ means that which is below the mountains, that is, the lower, or what amounts to the same, exterior aspect of worship. ‘The land of Shinar’ however means external worship which has unholiness within it, as shown already in 1183. Thus in this verse the statement that ‘they found a\u00a0valley\u00a0in the land of Shinar’ means that worship became more unclean and unholy.<\/p>\n

[2] Verse one dealt with the Church having one lip and its words being one that is, one doctrine in general and in particular. This verse however deals with the decline of the Church – ‘they travelled from the east’ that is, they began to depart from charity. For to the extent that the Church, or a member of the Church, departs from charity, its worship departs from what is holy, or its worship approaches what is unclean and unholy. The reason ‘they found avalley\u00a0in the land of Shinar’ means the decline of the Church, that is, of worship, into unholiness is that a\u00a0valley\u00a0is a low-lying area between mountains, which, as has been stated, mean the holy things of love or of charity within worship. This also becomes clear from the meaning of ‘a\u00a0valley’ in the Word where in the original language several expressions for\u00a0valley\u00a0occur which mean, when used in that sense, things present in worship that are less or more unholy.<\/p>\n

[3] That ‘valleys’ means such things is clear in Isaiah,<\/p>\n

The burden of the\u00a0valley\u00a0of vision; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has a day of tumult and of trampling and of confusion in the\u00a0valleyof vision. Isa. 22:1, 5.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley\u00a0of vision’ stands for delusions and for reasonings by which worship is rendered false and at length profaned. In Jeremiah,<\/p>\n

How do you say, I have not been defiled, I have not walked after the baals? Look at your way in the\u00a0valley. Jer. 2:23.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley’ stands for unclean worship. In the same prophet, They have built the high places of Topheth, which are in the\u00a0valley\u00a0of the son of Hinnom. Therefore, behold, the days are coming when it will no more be called Topheth or the\u00a0valley\u00a0of the son of Hinnom, but the\u00a0valley\u00a0of slaughter. Jer. 7:31, 34, 19:6.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley\u00a0of Hinnom’ stands for hell, also for the profanation of truth and good.<\/p>\n

[4] In Ezekiel,<\/p>\n

Thus said the Lord Jehovih to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and\u00a0valleys\u00a0Behold, I, even I, am bringing a sword places. Ezek. 6:3.<\/p>\n

In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

I will give to Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the\u00a0valley\u00a0of those that pass over towards the east of the sea. And they will call it the\u00a0valley\u00a0of the multitude of Gog. Ezek. 39:11, 15.<\/p>\n

This refers to worship in external things, ‘the\u00a0valley’ standing for such worship. But when worship has not yet become unholy to that extent, it is described by the word for a\u00a0valley\u00a0used here in Gen. 11:2, as in Isaiah,<\/p>\n

I will open rivers on the sloping heights, and I will place springs in the midst of\u00a0valleys; I will make the wilderness into a pool of water, and the dry land into streams of water. Isa. 41:18.<\/p>\n

This refers to people who are in ignorance, that is, without cognitions of faith and charity, and who yet have charity. ‘valley’ here stands for those people, as does ‘valley’ in Ezek. 37:1.<\/p>\n

AC 4715<\/p>\n

[3] The meaning of ‘a\u00a0valley’ as the lower things of the Church may be seen from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,<\/p>\n

The prophecy of the\u00a0valley\u00a0of vision. What is this, that you have gone up, every one onto the housetops? The Lord Jehovih Zebaoth has a day of tumult and of trampling and of confusion in the\u00a0valleyof vision. Isa. 22:1, 5.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley\u00a0of vision’ stands for false notions about spiritual things – notions formed from sensory impressions, and so from lower things. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

The choicest of your\u00a0valleys\u00a0were filled with chariots, and the horsemen positioned themselves at the gate. Isa. 22:7.<\/p>\n

‘The choicest of the\u00a0valleys’ stands for goods and truths within the natural or external man. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare the way of Jehovah; make plain in the lonely place a highway for our God; every\u00a0valley\u00a0will be lifted up. Isa. 40:3, 4.<\/p>\n

‘Valley’ stands for things that are lowly.<\/p>\n

[4] In Jeremiah,<\/p>\n

How will you say, I have not been defiled, I have not gone after the baalim. Look at your way in the\u00a0valley; acknowledge what you have done. Jer. 2:23.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley’ stands for factual knowledge and sensory impressions, which are lower things, by means of which they would pervert truths. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

I am against you, O inhabitant of the\u00a0valley, O rock of the plain, said Jehovah, you who say, Who will come down against us? Jer. 21:13.<\/p>\n

‘Inhabitant of the\u00a0valley’ and ‘rock of the plain’ stand for faith which
\nhas no charity in it. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

He who lays waste will come upon every city, and no city will escape; but the\u00a0valley\u00a0will perish, and the plain will be destroyed. Jer. 48:8.<\/p>\n

Here the meaning is similar. In the same prophet,<\/p>\n

You will not boast of\u00a0valleys; your\u00a0valley\u00a0has flowed away, O perverse daughter. Jer 49:4.<\/p>\n

‘Valley’ stands for the external things within worship which are also the lowest.<\/p>\n

[5] In Ezekiel,<\/p>\n

I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the\u00a0valley\u00a0of those that pass over. There they will bury Gog and all his multitude, from which they will call it the\u00a0valley\u00a0of the multitude of Gog. Ezek. 39:11, 15.<\/p>\n

‘Gog’ stands for those whose worship is external devoid of internal, 1151, which is why the expressions ‘his grave’, ‘the\u00a0valleyof those that pass over’, and ‘the\u00a0valley\u00a0of his multitude’ are used. In David,<\/p>\n

Even when I walk in the\u00a0valley\u00a0of the shadow I will fear no evil. Ps 23:4.<\/p>\n

‘The\u00a0valley\u00a0of the shadow’ stands for lower things which, compared with others, are in shadow.<\/p>\n

[6] Because\u00a0valleys\u00a0lay between mountains and hills and beneath them, ‘valleys’ therefore means the lower or more external things of the Church; for ‘hills’ and ‘mountains’ mean the higher or more internal things of it, ‘hills’ things of charity and ‘mountains’ those of love to the Lord, 795, 1430, 2722, 4210. And because ‘the land of Canaan’ means the Lord’s kingdom and His Church, that Church is therefore called,<\/p>\n

A land of mountain’s and\u00a0valleys, on the arrival of the rain of heaven it drinks water. Deut. 11:11.<\/p>\n

The reason Joseph is said at this point of have been sent out of theValley\u00a0of Hebron is that he was sent to those who taught about faith, 4705.
\nThose who are governed by faith, not by charity, adhere to lower things, for with them faith exists merely in the memory and consequently on the lips, not in the heart and consequently in action.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3417<\/b><\/p>\n

3417. ‘And camped in the\u00a0Valley\u00a0of Gerar and dwelt there’ means that He did so for lower rational concepts, that is, He abandoned interior appearances for exterior. This is clear from the meaning of ‘camping’ as arranging into order, from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0Valleyof Gerar’ as lower rational concepts or exterior appearances of truth – for ‘a\u00a0valley’ means lower things, or what amounts to the same, exterior things, 1723, while ‘Gerar’ means matters of faith and so of truth, 1209, 2504, 3365, 3384, 3385; and from the meaning of ‘dwelling’ as having one’s being and life, dealt with in 3384. From this it is evident that ‘he camped in the\u00a0Valley\u00a0of Gerar and dwelt there’ means that the Lord arranged truths so that they would also be suitable for the mental grasp and the disposition of those who are not concerned so much with life as they are with matters of doctrine concerning faith, as may be seen from the Word, in which likewise truths are suited to people’s ability to grasp them.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3424<\/b><\/p>\n

3424. ‘Isaac’s servants dug in the\u00a0valley\u00a0and found there a well of living water’ means the Word as regards the literal sense, which holds the internal sense within it. This is clear from the meaning of ‘digging in the\u00a0valley’ as investigating lower down to discover where truths are, for ‘digging’ is investigating, and ‘a\u00a0valley’ is that which is lower down, 1723, 3417; and from the meaning of ‘a well of living water’ as the Word in which Divine truths are present, thus the Word as regards the literal sense which holds the internal sense within it. It is well known that the Word is called ‘a spring’, in particular ‘a spring of living waters’. The reason why the Word is also called ‘a well’ is that in relation to its other senses the sense of the letter is like a well, and that where spiritual people are concerned the Word is not a spring but a well, see 2702, 3096. Since a\u00a0valley\u00a0is that which is lower down, or what amounts to the same, that which is more external, and it was in the\u00a0valley\u00a0that the spring was found; and since the literal sense is the lower or more external sense of the Word, it is the literal sense that is therefore meant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swedenborg says that mountains in the Bible represent people\u2019s highest, most internal points, where we are closest to the Lord \u2013 our love of the Lord and the state of caring for one another. By extension, then, it makes sense that valleys represent our lowest points, the ones most distant from the Lord: Our external, […]<\/p>\n

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