5124. 'Pharaoh will lift up your head' means that which has been provided and therefore decided. This is clear from the meaning of 'lifting up the head' as reaching a decision, and in the highest sense as providing; for a decision taken by the Divine and the carrying of that decision into effect is Providence. 'Lifting up the head' was an expression commonly used by the Ancients when it was decided that those who were bound, that is, those in prison, should either be allowed to live or else be condemned to death. When they were allowed to live the expression 'lifting up the head' was used, as also in the second Book of Kings,
Evil-merodach king of Babel, in the year he became king, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah from the prison-house; and he spoke to him that which was good, and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babel. 2 Kings 25:17, 28.
Similarly in Jeremiah,
Evil-merodach king of Babel, in the [first] year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him from the prison-house. Jer. 52:31.
But when someone was condemned to death the expression 'lifting up the head from upon him' was used, as in verse 19 further on which refers to the baker,
In yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you.
[2] This phrase expressing the decision that someone should live or be put to death originated with the Ancients, among whom representatives existed; it originated in their representation of those who were bound in prison or the pit. Because those in prison represented people undergoing vastation beneath the lower earth, 4728, 4744, 5038, lifting up the head' therefore meant their release from this condition. For when they are released they are raised or brought up from that vastation to heavenly communities, see 2699, 2701, 2704. Being brought or raised up implies advances made towards interior things, for the expression raised up or high is used to refer to things that are interior, 2148, 4210. And because advances made towards interior things are meant, an advance towards heaven is meant, since heaven exists within interior things. Such is the meaning of 'lifting up the head'. But 'lifting up the head from upon someone' meant his condemnation to death, for in this case those who were above the ones in the pit or undergoing vastation were raised up to heaven, while those in the pit were sent down into the nether regions. These things meant by this phrase expressing the decision whether one should live or be put to death are the reason for its usage in the Word. From this it is evident that 'lifting up the head' means that which has been decided; and as this is meant, that which has been provided is meant in the highest sense, since the Divine makes provision for that on which He has made a decision.
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church