47. [verse 14] 'And His head and hairs were white as wool, like snow' signifies the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom in primes and ultimates. By a man's head all of his life is signified, and all of a man's life has relation to love and wisdom. By the head, therefore, wisdom is signified, and at the same time love. Because, however, there is no love apart from its own wisdom, nor wisdom apart from its own love, therefore it is the love of wisdom that is understood by 'head', and when it concerns the Lord, it is the Divine Love of the Divine Wisdom. But [something] out of the Word about the signification of the head will be seen below (n. 538, 568). Since, then, by 'head' is understood love and at the same time wisdom in their primes, and because 'hairs' are here mentioned respecting the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Word, by 'His hairs' are signified the Divine Good that is of love, and the Divine Truth that is of wisdom, in the ultimates of the Word; and the ultimates of the Word are those that are contained in its sense of the letter. [2] That the Word in this sense is signified by the hairs of the Son of Man or of the Lord seems a paradox, but yet it is true. This can be established from the passages in the Word quoted in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 35-49). There also it has been shown that the Nazirites in the Israelitish Church represented the Lord as to the Word in ultimates, which is its sense of the letter; for 'Nazirite' in the Hebrew language is 'hair' or 'a head of hair' (Capillus seu Coma). As a result of this representation Samson, who was a Nazirite from the womb, had power in his long hair. That the Divine Truth is likewise in power in the sense of the letter of the Word may be seen in the above-mentioned DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 37-49). Moreover, shaving the head was on this account strictly forbidden to the high priest and his sons. For this reason also forty-two children were torn in pieces by two bears because they were calling Elisha bald. Elisha, like Elijah, was representing the Lord as to the Word; 'bald' signifies this Word without its ultimate, which, as stated, is the sense of the letter; while the 'bears' signify this sense of the Word separated from its internal sense. Those who make this separation also appear in the spiritual world as bears, but from afar. It is plain from this why it was so done with the children. For this reason also, to induce baldness was [a sign of] the utmost disgrace and of extreme sorrow. [3] Therefore, when the Israelitish nation had perverted all the sense of the letter of the Word, this lamentation is made over them:-
[Her] Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk; their form has been darkened more than blackness; they are not known in the streets Lam. iv 7, 8;
also:-
Every head made bald, and every shoulder plucked of its hair Ezek. xxix 18.
Shame upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads Ezek. vii 18.
In like manner, Isa. xv 2, Jer. xlviii 37, Amos viii 10. Because the sons of Israel dispersed all the sense of the letter of the Word by means of untruths, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent it by this, that:-
he should shave the head with a razor, and burn a third part of the long hair with fire, thrust through a third part with a sword, and scatter a third part into the wind, and collect some in his skirts, and afterwards cast this also into the fire Ezek. v 1-4 seq.
[4] On account of this it is also said in Micah:-
Make thee bald and poll thee for the sons of thy delights, enlarge thy baldness as the eagle, for they are carried away from thee Micah i 16.
The 'sons of delights' are the genuine truths of the Church out of the Word. And because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel represented the Babelish falsification of the Word and the destruction of everything of the Truth there, it consequently came to pass that:-
his long hair grew like eagles' [feathers] Dan. iv 33.
Since hairs used to signify that holy [power] of the Word, it is therefore said of the Nazirites, that:-
they should not shave the hair of their head, because that is the Naziriteship of God upon their head Num. vi 1-21;
and therefore it was decreed that:-
the high priest and his sons should not shave their head, lest they die, and wrath should come upon the whole house of Israel Lev. x 6.
[5] Now because by 'hairs' is signified the Divine Truth in ultimates, and in the Church this is the Word in the sense of the letter, the like is also said in Daniel concerning the Ancient of days:-
I saw until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, His garment white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool Dan. vii 9.
That 'the Ancient of days' is the Lord is quite plain in Micah:-
Thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall go forth to Me He Who shall be Ruler in Israel, and Whose going forth is from the ancient time, from the days of eternity Micah v 2 [H.B. 1];
and in Isaiah, where He is called:-
the Father of Eternity Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5].
[6] From these passages, and many others which are not adduced on account of their abundance, it can be established that by the 'head' and 'hairs' of the Son of Man, which were 'white as wool, like snow', is understood the Divine Love and Wisdom in primes and in ultimates. And since by 'the Son of Man' the Lord is understood as to the Word, it follows that this also in primes and ultimates is understood. Otherwise to what purpose would the Lord here in the Apocalypse, and the Ancient of days in Daniel, be described even with respect to the hairs? That by 'hairs' the sense of the letter of the Word is signified is manifestly plain from those who are in the spiritual world. Those who have held the sense of the letter of the Word in contempt appear bald there; while those who have loved the sense of the letter of the Word appear there with becoming hair. It is said as wool' and 'as snow', because wool signifies good in ultimates, and snow truth in ultimates, as also in Isaiah (i 18); for wool is derived from sheep, by which the good of charity is signified, and snow is derived from water, by which the truths of faith are signified.
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