406. 'And a third part of the ships was destroyed' signifies that all the cognitions of good and truth out of the Word serviceable for use of life had been utterly lost with them. 'A third part' signifies all, as above (n. 400, 404, 405). 'Ships' signify the cognitions of good and truth out of the Word serviceable for use of life. These are signified by 'ships' because ships cross the sea and convey the necessaries that are for the natural man for his every use, and cognitions of good and truth are the necessaries that are for the spiritual man for his every use, for the doctrine of the Church is derived from them, and a life in accordance with it. 'Ships' signify those cognitions because they are containers, and in many places in the Word the thing containing is taken for the content, as the cup for the wine, the plate for the food, the tabernacle and the temple for the holy things in them, the ark for the law, the altars for worship, and so on. [2] 'Ships' signify cognitions of good and truth in the following places:-
Zebulon shall dwell at the shore of the seas, and he shall be for a haven of ships Gen. xlix 13.
By 'Zebulon' is understood the conjunction of good and truth.
O Tyre, the builders have perfected thy beauty, out of firs from Senir have they made all the boards for thee; they have taken a cedar out of Lebanon to make a mast, of oaks out of Bashan have they made thine oars, thy beam have they made of ivory, a daughter of courses (filiam gressuum) out of the isles of Chittim; the inhabitants of Zidon and Arvah were thine oarsmen, thy wise men were thy skippers, all the ships of the sea and the sailors thereof were in thee for trading; the ships O, Tarshish were thy crowds in the market, whence thou wast replenished and exceedingly honoured in the heart of the seas Ezek. xxvii 4-9, 25.
These things [are said] of Tyre because by 'Tyre' in the Word is signified the Church as to the cognitions of truth and good, as can be established from the details concerning it in this chapter [of Ezekiel], and in the following chap. xxviii, understood in the spiritual sense. Also, because cognitions of truth and good of the Church are signified by 'Tyre', therefore a ship is described in its details, and by each detail is signified some quality of those cognitions leading to intelligence. What does the Word have in common with the ships of Tyre and its commerce? [3] The devastation of that Church is afterwards described thus:-
At the voice of the cry of thy skippers the suburbs shall quake, and all handling an oar shall come down from their ships, all the sailors and skippers of the sea shall cry out bitterly over thee Ezek. xxvii 28-30; also Isa. xxiii 14, 15.
The devastation of Babylon as to all the cognitions of truth is described similarly in the following [words] in the Apocalypse:-
In one hour have so great riches been devastated, every steersman and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors, were crying out and saying, Woe, woe, great city Babylon, wherein all have been made rich who have ships in the sea Rev. xviii 17, 19.
[4] The exposition may be seen below. By 'ships' are signified cognitions of truth and good also in the following places:-
My days have been swift, they have fled away, they have not seen good, they have passed by with ships of desire Job ix 25, 26.
Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in many waters, those have seen the works of Jehovah, and His wonders in the deep Ps. cvii 23, 24.
The isles shall trust in Me, and the ships of Tarshish in the beginning, to bring thy children from afar Isa. lx 9.
The kings have assembled, terror seized them, by an east wind Thou shalt break the ships of Tarshish Ps. xlviii 4-7 [H.B. 5-8].
Howl, O ships of Tarshish Isa. xxiii 1, 14;
besides elsewhere, as Num. xxiv 24; Judg. v 17; Ps. civ 26; Isa. xxiii 21.
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