1613. In the length of it and in the breadth of it. That this signifies the celestial and the spiritual, or what is the same, good and truth [may be seen from the signification of "length" and "breadth"]. That "length" signifies good, and "breadth" truth, may be seen explained before (n. 650). The reason is that "the land" signifies the heavenly kingdom, or the church, of which no length and breadth can be predicated, but only those things which are applicable and correspondent, which are goods and truths. The celestial, or good, being primary, is compared to length; and the spiritual or truth, being secondary, is compared to breadth. [2] That "breadth" is truth, appears plainly enough in the prophetic Word. As in Habakkuk:
I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and swift nation, that walketh in the breadths of the land (Hab. 1:6);
"the Chaldeans" denote those who are in falsity; "to walk in the breadths of the land," denotes to destroy truths, for this is predicated of the Chaldeans.
In David:
O Jehovah, Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; Thou hast made my feet to stand in a broad place (Ps. 31:8);
"to stand in a broad place," denotes in truth. Again:
Out of straightness have I called upon Jah; Jah answered me in a broad place (Ps. 118:5);
"to answer in a broad place," denotes in the truth. In Hosea:
Jehovah will feed them as a lamb, in a broad place (Hos. 4:16);
"to feed in a broad place," signifies to teach truth.
[3] In Isaiah:
Asshur shall go through Judah, he shall overflow and pass through, he shall reach even to the neck, and the stretchings out of his wings shall be the fullness of the breadth of thy land (Isa. 8:8);
"Asshur" denotes reasoning, which will overflow the land, or the church; "the wings" denote the reasonings whence falsities arise; "the fullness of the breadth," denotes that it is full of falsities, or things contrary to truth. Because the "length" of a land signifies good, and its "breadth" truth, the New Jerusalem is said to have been measured, and to lie foursquare, and its length to be as great as its breadth (Rev. 21:16), from which everyone can see that the length and the breadth signify nothing else, since the New Jerusalem is nothing else than the Lord's kingdom in the heavens and on earth. From the signification of things in the internal sense, modes of speaking concerning celestial and spiritual things by means of such things as are on earth, as by length and breadth, formerly became familiar; as the terms height and depth are used in common discourse at the present day, when predicated of wisdom.
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