786. [verse 17] 'And every steersman and everyone voyaging upon ships, and sailors and as many as work at sea' signifies those who are called the laity, both those who have been placed in greater and those in lesser dignity even to the common people, who have been attached to that form of religion, and love and embrace it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. From verse 9 to verse 16 [this chapter] has treated of the clergy who have been in the dominion resulting from that form of religion, and have made use of the Lord's Divine authority and by that means gained the world. It now treats of those who are not in any order of the ministry but yet love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart, who are known as the laity. By 'every steersman' are understood the highest of them who are emperors, kings, dukes and princes. By 'everyone voyaging upon ships' are understood those who are in the various functions of greater or lesser degree. By 'sailors' are understood the lowest who are called the common people. By 'as many as work at sea' are understood all in general who have been attached to that form of religion and love and embrace it or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. [2] That here all these (hi et illi) are understood is plain from the series of the things in the spiritual sense; also from the signification of 'steersmen'* and of 'voyaging upon ships' and of 'sailors', and from the signification of 'those working at sea'. By 'steersmen of ships', also 'those voyaging upon them' and 'sailors', no others can be understood but those who bring the things that above are called merchandise, which are the things that they gather together into their treasuries, also properties (possessiones), and who take back benedictions and blessings in return for them as things merited, and other similar things which they desired for their souls. And when these are understood it is plain that by 'every steersman' the highest of them is understood, by 'everyone voyaging upon ships' all in offices subordinate to those, and by 'sailors' the lowest. That by 'ships' are signified the cognitions of good and truth that are spiritual merchandise may be seen above (n. 406). Here the merchandise is natural, and they get spiritual things in return as they think. By 'as many as work at sea' are signified all, whoever they may be, who love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. This is because by 'the sea' that form of religion is signified, for by 'the sea' is signified the external of the Church, as may be seen above (n. 238, 290, 403-405, 470, 565 1/2, 659, 661), and that form of religion is purely external. Similar things are signified by these words in Isaiah:-
Thus has said Jehovah your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, For your sake have I sent to Babel, and I will cast down all the bars, of which there is a cry in the ships. Thus has said Jehovah, I Who have given a way in the sea and a path in the mighty waters Isa. xliii 14, 16.
It is said 'a cry in the ships', as also here that 'they stood afar off and cried' out of the ships. And also in Ezekiel:-
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, and they shall cry out bitterly over thee Ezek. xxvii 28-30.
But all these things [are said] concerning the devastation of Tyre, by which is signified the Church as to cognitions of truth and good. [3] It must, however, be known that no others are understood here but those who love and embrace that form of religion or acknowledge and venerate it at heart. But those of the same form of religion, who indeed acknowledge it because of being born and brought up in it, and do not know anything of their sly tricks and snares for arrogating Divine worship to themselves and for getting possession of all the property of all in the world, and still do good things out of a sincere heart, and also have turned their eyes to the Lord, these after death come among the blessed. For when instructed there they receive truths (veritas), rejecting the adoration of the pope and the invocation of saints; and they acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, are taken up into heaven, and become angels. Therefore there are also many heavenly societies of them in the spiritual world over which are set honoured persons who have lived in like manner. It has been granted to see that over those societies some were set who also have been emperors, kings, dukes and princes, who indeed have acknowledged the pontiff as the highest person of the Church but not as the Lord's vicar, and have also acknowledged some things out of the papal bulls but yet held the Word to be holy and acted justly in their administration. Concerning these some things may be seen in the CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD (n. 58 and 60), related from experience. * The text of the Original Edition here does not make sense, nor is it grammatically correct. We have read gubernatorum (of steersmen) instead of super navibus (upon ships); and in the next sentence versantes super illis et nautas (those voyaging upon them and sailors) instead of versantium super illis et nautarum (of those voyaging upon them and of sailors).
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