323. Having every one of them harps. That this signifies confession from spiritual truths, is evident from the signification of the harp, as denoting confession from spiritual truths. Harps, signify this because the harp was a stringed instrument, and such instruments signify spiritual things, or those of truth: whereas wind instruments signify celestial things, or those of good. Such things are signified by musical instruments, from the sounds, for sound corresponds to the affections, and from sounds also affections are perceived in heaven. And because there are various affections, and various sounds are uttered by musical instruments, therefore the latter, from correspondence, and thence agreement, signify the former. In general, stringed instruments signify such things as belong to the affections of truth, and wind instruments such as belong to the affections of good: or, what is the same thing, some instruments belong to the spiritual class, and some to the celestial class. That sounds correspond to affections, has been made clear to me from much experience, and also musical sounds, and that the angels are affected according to the sounds and their varieties: but to adduce all such experience would be tedious in this place. That only which has been generally observed, I desire to record, namely, that discrete sounds arouse the affections of truth, or that those who are in the affections of truth are affected by them: and that continuous sounds arouse the affections of good, or that those who are in affections of good are affected by them. Whether you say the affections of truth or spiritual things, it amounts to the same, or whether you say the affections of good or celestial things, it is also the same. But these things can be better comprehended from what has been said from experience concerning sounds and their correspondence with the affections, in the work concerning Heaven and Hell, n. 241. From these considerations it is now evident, why, in the Word, and chiefly in David, so many kinds of musical instruments are mentioned, as psalteries, harps, flutes, cymbals, timbrels, horns, organs, and others, namely, that it is on account of correspondence with the affections, and at the same time with the articulations, which are expressions that contain things, and flow therefrom.
[2] That especially harps signify the affections of truth, because they arouse them, consequently also the confession which is made from spiritual truths with a merry heart, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:
"The new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish, all the merry-hearted shall sigh. The joy of timbrels shall cease, the noise of the merry shall cease; the joy of the harp shall cease. They shall not drink wine with a song" (xxiv. 7, 8, 9).
The subject here treated of is the vastation of the spiritual church, or the good and truth thereof. Spiritual good that would cease, is signified by, the new wine shall mourn and the joy of timbrels shall cease: and that its truth would cease, is signified by, the vine shall languish, and the joy of the harp shall cease: for by new wine is signified spiritual good, and its joy by the timbrel; and by the vine is signified spiritual truth, and its joy by the harp. Because it is the affection of those things which would cease, it is therefore said, "All the merry-hearted shall sigh, the noise of the merry shall cease." By gladness and mirth in the Word are signified spiritual gladness and mirth, all of which are from the affections of truth and good. It is added, they shall not drink wine with a song, because by a song is signified testification of gladness from the affection of truth, and by wine is signified truth.
[3] In David:
"Confess unto Jehovah upon the harp: sing unto him upon a psaltery of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play excellently with a loud noise. For the Word of Jehovah is right; and all his work [is done] in truth" (Ps. xxxiii. 2, 3, 4).
Because the harp signifies confession from spiritual truths, it is therefore said, Confess unto Jehovah upon the harp. A psaltery of ten strings signifies corresponding spiritual good: therefore it is said, Sing unto him upon a psaltery of ten strings; and on this account also it is said, For the Word of Jehovah is right, and all his work [is done] in truth, the truth of good being signified by, the Word of Jehovah is right, and the good of truth by, all His work is done in truth: the truth of good is the truth which proceeds from good, and the good of truth is the good which is produced by truth.
[4] In the same:
"Send thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto the mountain of thy holiness, and to thy habitations, that I may confess unto thee upon the harp, O God, my God" (Ps. xliii. 3, 4).
That the harp signifies confession from spiritual truths is evident, for it is said, "I will confess unto thee upon the harp, O God, my God; and it is also premised, send "Thy light and thy truth: let them lead me."
[5] In the same:
"I will confess unto thee upon the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God; unto thee will I sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel" (Ps. lxxi. 22).
Because by the psaltery is signified spiritual good or the good of truth, and by the harp spiritual truth or the truth of good, and confession is made from each, therefore it is said, "I will confess unto thee upon the psaltery: unto thee will I sing with the harp."
[6] In the same:
"I will sing and play. Awake me my glory, awake me, psaltery and harp. I will confess unto thee, O Lord, among the nations, I will praise thee among the peoples" (Ps. lvii. 8, 9: cviii. 2, 3).
Confession and glorification from the good of truth or from spiritual good, and from the truth of good or from spiritual truth, are expressed in the particulars of this passage. The good of truth is expressed by singing, by being awaked by the psaltery, and by praising among the nations: and the truth of good by praising, by being awaked by the harp, and by praising among the peoples: for nations in the Word mean those who are in good, and peoples those who are in truth: in this case those who are in spiritual truth. It is so said, because where good is treated of in the Word, truth also is treated of, and this on account of their marriage in the particulars thereof (concerning which see above, n. 238, at end, 288).
[7] In the same:
"Answer unto Jehovah with confession; sing praise upon the harp unto our God" (Ps. cxlvii. 7).
Here also confession from spiritual good and from spiritual truth is expressed by answering unto Jehovah with confession, and by playing upon the harp unto our God; from spiritual good, by answering unto Jehovah: and from spiritual truth, by playing upon the harp unto God. Jehovah is also mentioned where the subject treated of is concerning good, and God where it is treated concerning truth. (As may be seen, n. 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807. 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.)
[8] In Ezekiel:
"And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease: and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard. And I will give thee to the dryness of the rock" (xxvi. 13, 14).
This is said respecting Tyre, by which is signified the church as to the knowledges (cognitiones) of good and truth. Its vastation is described by these words; vastation as to knowledges of good by, I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease: and vastation as to knowledges of truth by, "The sound of harps shall be no more heard": the desolation of all truth by, "I will give thee to the dryness of the rock a rock signifying truth, and its dryness desolation.
[9] In David:
"Make a loud noise unto Jehovah, all the earth: resound, rejoice, and sing. Sing unto Jehovah with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a song. With trumpets and the sound of a horn, make a loud noise before Jehovah, the King" (Ps. xcviii. 4-6).
The various kinds of affections from which confession and glorification of the Lord are made, are here expressed by the various kinds of sounds and instruments: by the various kinds of sounds, by making a loud noise, resounding, rejoicing, and singing; and by the various kinds of instruments, by harps, trumpets, and horns: but to expound the signification of each does not belong to this place, only what relates to the harp. To "Sing unto Jehovah with the harp, with the harp and the voice of a song," signifies confession from the affection of spiritual good and truth: for every affection, because it belongs to love, when it falls into sound, sounds agreeably to itself: whence also from the sound that is in speech, and in which the expressions of speech flow, as it were, the affection of another is heard, which also is thence known to an associate, and manifestly in the spiritual world, where all sounds of the speech indicate the affections.
[10] Also elsewhere in David, as the following passages:
"Rejoice in God our strength: cry aloud unto the God of Jacob. Lift up the song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp, with the psaltery. Blow the horn at the new moon, at the time appointed, on the day of our solemn festival" (Ps. lxxxi. 1. 2, 3).
"[It is] good to confess unto Jehovah, and to sing unto thy name, O Most High upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery upon the harp with a solemn sound" (Ps. xcii. 1, 3).
"Let the sons of Zion exult in their King; let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp" (Ps. cxlix. 2, 3).
"Praise God with the sound of the horn; praise him with the psaltery and harp; praise him with the timbrel and dance; praise him with the stringed instruments and the organ. Praise him with cymbals of soft sound; praise him with cymbals of loud sound" (Ps. cl. 3-5).
[11] Because musical instruments and also dances signify joys and gladnesses, which spring from the affections, and also the affections of the mind themselves, which their sounds produce both in what is simple and in what is compound, therefore
"David and the whole house of Israel played before Jehovah upon wooden instruments of every kind, and upon harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals" (2 Sam. vi. 5).
[12] Because the harp signifies confession from spiritual truths; and spiritual truths are those by which the angels who are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are affected, and which dissipate the falsities of evil, and with them the spirits themselves who are in them, therefore,
When the evil spirit was upon Saul, "David took a harp, and played with his hand; and thus rest was given to Saul, and the evil spirit departed from him" (1 Sam. xvi. 23).
This was done because kings represented the Lord as to the spiritual kingdom, and thence signified spiritual truths (as may been seen, n. 31): but Saul then represented the falsities opposed to those truths, - falsities that were dissipated by the sound of the harp, because the harp signified the spiritual affection of truth. This circumstance took place at that time, because with the sons of Israel all things were representative, and thence significative: it is otherwise at this day. From the passages which have now been adduced, it is clear what the harp signifies, besides also in other places (as Isaiah xxx. 31, 32 Ps. xlix. 3, 4: Ps. cxxxvii. 1, 2: 1 Sam. x. 5: Rev. xiv. 2; xviii. 22: Job xxx. 31).
[13] Because most things in the Word also signify the opposite, so also do musical instruments, in which sense they signify gladnesses and joys springing from the affections of falsity and evil: thus the harp also [signifies] the confession of falsity, and thence exultation over the destruction of truth. As in Isaiah:
"At the end of seventy years the song of Tyre shall be even as the song of a harlot: take the harp, walk in the city, thou harlot delivered to forgetfulness: play elegantly, increase the singing" (xxiii. 15, 16).
By Tyre is signified the church as to the cognitions of spiritual truth and good, as was said above, in this case the church in which these are falsified; a harlot signifies the falsification of truth (as may be seen above, n. 141); and by taking a harp, walking about the city, playing elegantly, and increasing the singing, is signified the exultation and boasting of falsity over the destruction of truth.
[14] And in the same:
"Woe to them that rise in the morning at dawn that they may follow strong drink: to them that tarry until twilight, till wine inflame him. And the harp, and the psaltery, and the timbrel, and pipe, and wine are at their feasts; but the), do not examine the work of Jehovah, and see not the operation of his hands" (v. 11, 12).
Here the harp, the psaltery, the timbrel, the pipe, and also wine, are meant in the opposite sense, in which they signify exultations and boastings from the falsities of evil. That such things are signified, is evident, for it is said, Woe to them: they do not examine the work of Jehovah, and they see not the operation of his hands.
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