{"id":11816,"date":"2016-05-02T15:35:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T19:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11816"},"modified":"2016-05-02T15:35:51","modified_gmt":"2016-05-02T19:35:51","slug":"see-sight","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/see-sight\/","title":{"rendered":"See, sight"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>Swedenborg<\/a> says the internal meaning<\/a> of \u201cseeing\u201d is \u201cunderstanding,\u201d which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see what we mean). So when the Bible<\/a> talks about seeing, the reference is to recognizing and understanding<\/a> the truth<\/a> intellectually.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3869<\/b><\/p>\n

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  1. ‘For Jehovah has heard’ means in the highest sense providence, in the internal sense the will of faith, in the interior sense obedience, in the external sense the sense of hearing – faith in the will which is received from the Lord alone being meant here. This is clear from the meaning of ‘hearing’. As regards ‘hearing’ meaning the sense of hearing, this needs no explanation; but that ‘hearing’ in the interior sense means obedience and in the internal sense faith in the will, this is clear from the many places in the Word that are referred to below. The same is clear also from the nature of the sense of hearing when compared with that ofsight.\u00a0Sight\u00a0in the interior sense means the understanding and in the internal sense faith in the understanding, see 3863; and the reason why it has these meanings is that the essential nature of things comes to be seen by means of one’s internal\u00a0sightand with the aid of this comes to be grasped by a kind of faith, though such as exists only in the understanding. When however things that are heard penetrate to the interior parts they too are converted into something similar to\u00a0sight, for things that are heard are then seen interiorly. Consequently that which is meant by the sense of\u00a0sight\u00a0is also meant by the sense of hearing; that is to say, that which is of the understanding and also that which is of faith is meant. But the sense of hearing at the same time convinces a person that the thing is true, for it has an influence not only on the understanding part of a person’s mind but also on the will part, and so reaches more interiorly. That is to say, it reaches the will and causes that person to will that which he sees. This is why ‘hearing’ means the understanding of a thing and at the same time obedience, and why in the spiritual sense it means faith in the will.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4405<\/b><\/p>\n

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    1. The reason why the sense of\u00a0sight\u00a0corresponds to the affection for being intelligent and wise is that the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the body corresponds in every way to thesight\u00a0of its spirit, and so to the understanding. For there are two kinds of light, the first being that of the world coming from the sun, the second that of heaven coming from the Lord. The light of the world does not hold any intelligence at all within it, whereas the light of heaven does hold intelligence within it. Consequently in the measure that the things with man which belong to the light of the world receive light from those that belong to the light of heaven, and so to the extent that the one set of things corresponds to the other, he is intelligent and wise.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4406<\/b><\/p>\n

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      1. Since the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye corresponds to the understanding,\u00a0sight\u00a0is therefore attributed to the understanding also, and is called intellectual\u00a0sight. In addition the things which a person discerns are referred to as the objects of that\u00a0sight. In everyday language too one speaks of seeing things when one understands them; and one also uses the terms light and enlightenment, and consequently clarity, in reference to the understanding, or conversely shade and darkness, and consequently obscurity. These and other terms like them have entered into a person’s use of language because of their correspondence. For his spirit dwells in the light of heaven and his body in the light of the world – it being the spirit which has life within the body and also which thinks. Consequently there are many things of an interior nature which have passed down in this manner into the actual expressions people use.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4526<\/b><\/p>\n

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        1. To take further the correspondence of the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye, begun at the end of the previous chapter, it should be recognized that its correspondence is with the things of the understanding, for the understanding is internal\u00a0sight\u00a0and this internalsight\u00a0functions in the light which is above the light of the world. The reason why man is able to acquire intelligence to himself by means of the things which are seen by him in the light of the world is that a higher light, or the light of heaven, flows into the objects made visible by the light of the world and causes them to be seen in a representative and correspondential fashion. For the light that is above the light of the world is that which proceeds from the Lord who enlightens the whole of heaven. Intelligence and wisdom themselves which come from the Lord are seen there as light, and it is this light which constitutes man’s understanding or internal\u00a0sight. When that light is flowing in through the understanding into the objects made visible by the light of the world it causes them to be seen in a representative and correspondential fashion, and so to be seen with understanding. And because the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye which operates in the natural world corresponds to the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the understanding which operates in the spiritual world, it corresponds to the truths of faith, for these belong to a genuine understanding. Indeed truths constitute the whole understanding of man, for every part of his thought revolves around the matter of whether something is so or not so, that is, whether it is true or not true. As regards the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye corresponding to the truths and goods of faith, see above in 4410.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Apocalypse Explained (Whitehead) n. 260<\/b><\/p>\n

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          1. Verse 1. After these things I saw, signifies the understanding illustrated. This is evident from the signification of “to see” as being to understand. “To see” signifies to understand because the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye corresponds to the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the mind, which is understanding. The correspondence is from this, that as the understanding sees spiritual things, so the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eye sees natural things. Spiritual things are truths from good, and natural things are objects in various forms. Truths from good, which are spiritual things, are seen in heaven as distinctly as objects before the eye, yet with much difference; for these truths are seen intellectually, that is, they are perceived; and the nature of this\u00a0sight\u00a0or perception cannot be described by human words; it can be apprehended only so far as this, that it has in it consent and confirmation from the inmost that so it is. There are, indeed, confirming reasons in very great abundance, which present themselves to the intellectual\u00a0sight\u00a0as a one, and this one is as it were a conclusion from many particulars. These confirming reasons are in the light of heaven, which is Divine truth or Divine wisdom proceeding from the Lord, and which operate in each angel according to his state of reception. This is the spiritual\u00a0sight\u00a0of the understanding. Since with angels this\u00a0sight\u00a0operates upon the\u00a0sight\u00a0of the eyes, and presents the truths of the understanding in correspondent forms that appear in heaven not unlike the forms in the natural world that are called objects, so “to see,” in the sense of the letter of the Word, signifies to understand.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Swedenborg says the internal meaning of \u201cseeing\u201d is \u201cunderstanding,\u201d which is obvious enough that it has become part of common language (think about it; you might see what we mean). So when the Bible talks about seeing, the reference is to recognizing and understanding the truth intellectually. Passages from Swedenborg Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3869 […]<\/p>\n

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