781. And of horses and carriages and the bodies and souls of men, signifies all those things according to the understanding of the Word and doctrine thence, and according to the goods and truths of the sense of its letter, which they have not, because they falsify and adulterate the Word, by applying the things which are therein to dominion over heaven and the world, contrary to its genuine sense. These things are named in the possessive case, because they qualify those which precede. That the understanding of the Word is signified by "horses," may be seen (n. 298). That by "chariots" doctrine from the Word is signified (n. 437); hence the like by "carriages." That the goods and truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are signified by "the bodies and souls of men," is because similar things are signified by them as by the body and blood in the Holy Supper. By "the body" in the Holy Supper is signified the Lord's Divine good, and by "the blood" the Lord's Divine truth; and because they signify these, they also signify the Divine good and the Divine truth of the Word, because the Lord is the Word. But here it is said "the soul" instead of "blood." The reason is, that truth is likewise signified by the soul, see above (n. 681); and because the blood is called "the soul" in the Word (Gen. 9:4, 5; Lev. 17:12-14; Deut. 12:23-25). The like is signified by the "soul of man" (Ezek. 27:13); also by the "seed of man" (Dan. 2:43). [2] Similar things are signified by "horses" and "carriages" in Isaiah:
Then shall they bring all your brethren upon horses and upon chariots and upon carriages, and upon mules and upon coursers, unto the mountain of My holiness, Jerusalem (Isa. 66:20). This is said of the Lord's New Church, which is Jerusalem, concerning those therein who are in the understanding of the Word and in doctrine thence, which are "horses," "chariots," and "carriages." Now because they who are of the Roman Catholic religious persuasion falsify and adulterate the Word, by the application to dominion over heaven and the world, it is signified that they have no goods and truths from the Word, and therefore neither in their doctrine. Concerning this Jeremiah says:
The king of Babel hath devoured me, he hath disturbed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up as a whale, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies (Jer. 51:34). A sword is against the horses of Babel, and against his chariots, and against his treasures, that they may be pillaged; drought is upon her waters, that they may be dried up; because it is a land of graven images, and they glory in their terrible things (Jer. 50:37-38).
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