522. Because they were made bitter, signifies because the truths of the Word were falsified. This is evident from the signification of "the waters in the rivers and in the fountains," as being the truths of the understanding and the truths of doctrine (of which above, n. 518); also from the signification of "bitter" and "bitterness," as being what is falsified by the mingling of truth with the falsities of evil; for "bitter" here means the bitter of wormwood, and "wormwood" by reason of its bitterness signifies truth mixed with the falsity of evil, thus truth falsified (of which above, n. 519). "Bitter" signifies in the Word what is undelightful, but one kind of undelightfulness is signified by the bitter from wormwood, another by the bitter from gall, another by the bitter of hemlock, another by the bitter from unripe fruit, another by the bitter that is neither from herbs nor fruit; this bitter signifies grief of mind and anxiety from various causes. [2] This makes evident the signification of "bitterness" in the following passages. In Isaiah:
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe unto the mighty in drinking wine, and unto men of strength in mingling strong drink (5:20, 22). In the same:
The new wine shall mourn, the vine shall languish, all the glad of heart shall sigh. They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it (24:7, 9). In Moses:
That the waters in Marah, which they were not able to drink because of their bitterness, were healed by the wood that was cast into them (Exod. 15:23-25);
That at the time of the Passover they ate unleavened bread with bitter herbs (Exod. 12:8; Num. 9:11). In the same:
That the waters of the curse should be given to a wife accused by her husband of adultery, and if she was guilty these waters would become bitternesses in her, and her belly would swell and her thigh would fall in (Num. 5:12-29). In Revelation:
The little book that the prophet ate by command was in his mouth sweet like honey, but the belly was made bitter by it (10:9, 10). So in other passages. But here, where it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter," the bitter of wormwood is meant, and the signification of this bitterness has been explained just before.
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