4844.“你在你父亲家里守寡”表该教会疏远犹太教会。这从以下事实清楚可知，犹大这样做是希望她离开，不要再回到他这里。他的确说，要她等到他的儿子示拉长大；然而他心里想的是，不会把她给他儿子示拉，因为他心里说“恐怕示拉也死，像他的哥哥一样”。他的行为也进一步证明了他的意图，这从14节经文明显看出来，即：他玛见示拉已经长大，还没有娶她为妻。由此明显可知，犹大的话表示他叫他玛疏远他自己；也就是说，在内义上的意思是：代表属灵和属天事物的教会，就是由“他玛”所代表的教会（4811，4831节）疏远了由“犹大”所代表的犹太教会。这二者不可能彼此达成一致，因为犹太教不是一个代表教会，只是一个教会的代表（4307，4500节）；因为它承认外在之物，不承认内在之物。
“寡妇”也表示没有教会良善的教会真理，因为就代表意义而言，“妻子”表示真理，“丈夫”表示良善（参看4823，4843节）；所以没有丈夫的妻子表示没有教会良善的教会真理。正因如此，提到他玛时，经上说她“在父亲家里守寡”，意思是：教会的真理要被疏远，以及它不会在他家里被接受；犹太民族也不可能接受它，因为该民族陷入邪恶，而非处于良善。
在圣言中，经上经常提到“寡妇”；人若不熟悉内义，必以为“寡妇”是指寡妇。但就内义而言，“寡妇”表示没有良善的教会真理，也就是那些处于没有良善的真理，却仍渴望处于良善，因而喜欢被良善引导的人；“丈夫”表示当起引导作用的良善。在古教会，“丧偶者”，无论女人还是男人，在正面意义上就表示这种人。因为古教会将他们要向其行仁爱的邻舍分成许多不同种类。其中有的邻舍被他们称为穷人，有的被称为患难和困苦人，有的被称为被捆绑和坐监的，有的被称为瞎子和瘸子，有的被称为寄居的，孤儿，寡妇。他们照其品质而向这些邻舍提供仁爱的行为。古教会的教义教导他们这些事，因为古教会并不知道其它教义。所以，生活那个时代的人照其教义进行教导和写作，因此当说到寡妇时，他们心里只会想到诸如处于没有良善的真理，然而仍渴望被良善引导的那种人。
由此也明显可知，古教会的教义教导那些涉及仁爱和邻舍的事，他们的知识就在于知道外在事物表示什么。因为教会是属灵和属天事物的代表，故所代表和表示的属灵和属天事物就是他们通过教义和知识所逐渐获知的。但如今这些教义和知识完全被抹除了，事实上被抹除得如此彻底，以致人们不知道它们曾存在过。因为信之教义取代了它们，而信之教义若丧失并脱离仁之教义，就几乎没什么可教的了。事实上，信之教义教导何为良善，而信之教义教导何为真理；教导没有良善的真理就等于像瞎子那样行路，因为良善是教导者和引导者，真理则是被教导和引导者。这两种教义之间的差别，如同光明与黑暗那样大；除非黑暗被光明光照，也就是说，除非真理被良善光照，或信被仁光照，否则只有黑暗。正因如此，没有人凭直觉，因而凭觉知知道真理是不是真理；他只能凭幼年被教导并吸收、成年又加以确认的教义知道真理。这也解释了为何教会彼此之间分歧如此之大，以致被这个教会称为真理的，却被那个教会称为虚假，它们从未达成一致。
“寡妇”在正面意义上表示那些处于没有良善的真理，但仍渴望被良善引导的人；这一点从圣言中提及“寡妇”的经文明显看出来，如诗篇：
耶和华为受欺压的伸冤；赐食物与饥饿的；耶和华释放被囚的；耶和华开了瞎子的眼睛；耶和华扶起被压下的人；耶和华喜爱义人；耶和华保护寄居的，扶持孤儿和寡妇。（诗篇146:7-9）
就内义而言，这论及那些被主教导真理，引向良善的人。不过，他们当中有的被称为“受欺压的”，有的被称为“饥饿的”，而有的被称为“被囚的”、瞎子”、“被压下的人”、“寄居的”、“孤儿和寡妇”，每个名称都取决于他们的品质。若不凭内义，没有人知道各自的具体性质是什么。古教会的教义则教导了这一切。在此处如在许多其它地方一样，“寄居的”、“孤儿和寡妇”联在一起被提及，因为“寄居的”表示那些希望在信之真理上得到教导的人（1463，4444节），“孤儿”表示那些处于没有真理的良善，并渴望通过真理被引向良善的人，“寡妇”表示那些处于没有良善的真理，并渴望通过良善被引向真理的人。在圣言中，无论此处还是别处，这三者都联在一起被提及，因为就内义而言，他们构成一类；事实上，这三者合在一起表示那些希望得到教导并被引向良善与真理的人。
又：
神在祂的圣所作孤儿的父，作寡妇的伸冤者。（诗篇68:5）
“孤儿”表示那些像小孩子那样处于纯真的良善，但尚未处于真理的人，经上说他们的父亲是主，因为主像父亲那样引导他们，通过真理把他们引入良善，也就是说，引入构成生活或智慧的良善。“寡妇”表示那些像成年人那样处于真理，但尚未处于良善的人，经上说他们的伸冤者是主，因为祂引导他们，通过良善把他们引入真理，也就是说，引入聪明的真理。“伸冤者”（judge）表示引导者。“孤儿”所表示的没有真理的良善通过真理的教义变成智慧的良善；“寡妇”所表示的没有良善的真理通过良善的生活变成聪明的真理。
以赛亚书：
祸哉！那些设立不义之律例的，为要屈枉穷乏人，夺去我民中困苦人的理，以寡妇当作掳物，以孤儿当作掠物。（以赛亚书10:1-2）
此处“穷乏人”、“困苦人”、“寡妇”和“孤儿”并非表示字面上如此的那些人，而表示灵性上如此的那些人。由于在犹太教会，如在古教会那样，一切事物都是代表，所以向孤儿和寡妇行善也是代表；因为向这些人行善在天堂就代表对那些灵义上的孤儿、寡妇的仁爱。
耶利米书：
你们要施行公平和公义，拯救被抢夺的脱离欺压人的手；不可亏负寄居的和孤儿寡妇，不可以强暴待他们，在这地方也不可流无辜人的血。（耶利米书22:3）
此处“寄居的和孤儿寡妇”也表示那些灵性上如此的人。因为在灵界或天堂，他们不知道寄居的和孤儿寡妇是谁；事实上，那些在世时处于这种境况的人在那里不是这样；因此，当世人读到这些话时，天使照其灵义或内义来理解它们。
在以西结书同样如此：
看哪！以色列的首领各逞其膀臂，在你中间流人之血。在你中间有轻慢父母的，在你中间有欺压寄居的，在你中间有亏负孤儿寡妇的。（以西结书22:6-7）
还有玛拉基书：
我必临近你们，施行审判。我必速速作见证，警戒行邪术的、起假誓的、亏负人之工价的、欺压寡妇孤儿的、屈枉寄居的和不敬畏我的。（玛拉基书3:5）
摩西五经：
不可亏负寄居的，也不可欺压他。不可苦待寡妇和孤儿。若是苦待他们一点，他们向我一哀求，我总要听他们的哀声，并要发烈怒，用剑杀你们，使你们的妻子为寡妇，儿女为孤儿。（出埃及记22:21-24）
这条戒律，和犹太教会中的其它所有戒律、典章、律例一样，都是代表。犹太教会成员就被束缚在外在事物上，好叫他们遵守这条戒律，以此代表仁爱的内在事物，尽管他们自己没有丝毫仁爱，并非出于内在情感如此行。内在是从教导那些无知之人以真理，通过真理把他们引向良善，通过良善把那些有知识的人引向真理的情感流出的。犹太教会成员若如此行，就是向灵义上的寄居的、寡妇和孤儿行善。然而，为叫外在能为代表的缘故保留下来，向寄居的和孤儿寡妇屈枉正直的就在巴路山受咒诅者之列（申命记27:19）。“屈枉正直”表示行相反的事，也就是通过教导和生活引向虚假和邪恶。由于夺走别人的良善与真理，把它们归给自己，以提高自己的地位和利益就包括在受咒诅者之列，故主说：
你们文士和法利赛人有祸了！因为你们侵吞寡妇的家产，假意作很长的祷告，所以要受更重的刑罚。（马太福音23:14；路加福音20:47）
“侵吞寡妇的家产”表示从那些渴慕真理的人那里夺走真理，并教导他们虚假。
在田间遗漏的一捆，打橄榄树枝上剩下的，摘葡萄园的葡萄所剩下的，要留给寄居的与孤儿寡妇（申命记24:19-22）同样是代表。每逢三年，就是十分取一之年，取完了一切土产的十分之一，要分给寄居的与孤儿寡妇，使他们在城中可以吃得饱足（申命记26:12）也是代表。唯独主教导人并将他引向良善与真理，故经上在耶利米书中说：
你撇下孤儿，我必使他们存活；寡妇可以倚靠我。（耶利米书49:11）
摩西五经：
耶和华为孤儿寡妇伸冤，又怜爱寄居的，赐给他衣食。（申命记10:18）
“食”表示爱之良善（2165，2177，3478，3735，3813，4211，4217，4735节）；“衣”表示信之真理（4545，4763节）。
关于以利亚的记载，即：当那地因没有下雨而有饥荒时，他被打发到撒勒法的一个寡妇那里，求她拿点饼来，她先为他做饼并给了他，然后为她自己和她儿子做饼，缸里的面果然没有用完，瓶里的油也不缺短（列王记上17:1-16），和有关以利亚并总体上圣言里所有人的其它一切记载一样，都是代表。那地因没有雨而出现的饥荒代表在教会中真理的荒废（参看1460，3364节）；撒勒法的寡妇代表那些教会之外渴慕真理的人；她先为以利亚所做的饼代表对主之爱的良善（2177节），她出于这一点点良善而拥有主，爱祂胜过自己和她儿子；缸里的面表示源于良善的真理（2177节），瓶里的油表示仁与爱（886，3728，4582节）；以利亚代表圣言，这类事通过圣言成就（参看2762节）。
主在路加福音中的话在内义上也所表相同：
没有先知在自己家乡被人悦纳的。我对你们说实话，当以利亚的日子，天闭塞了三年零六个月，遍地有大饥荒，那时，以色列中有许多寡妇；以利亚并没有奉差往她们一个人那里去，只奉差往西顿的撒勒法一个守寡的妇人那里去。（路加福音4:24-26）
也就是说，他奉差到那些在教会之外渴慕真理的人那里去。但是，在已荒废的教会中，以利亚未奉差所去往的寡妇是指那些因未处于良善而未处于真理的人；因为哪里没有良善，哪里就没有真理。无论在这些人当中，真理外表看上去多么像真理，仍旧如同没有内核的外壳。
“寡妇”在反面意义上表示那些处于这种真理的人，以及那些陷入虚假的人，如在以赛亚书：
耶和华一日之间必从以色列中剪除头与尾，棕枝与灯草；长老和体面人就是头，以谎言教人的先知就是尾。所以，主必不喜悦他们的少年人，也不怜恤他们的孤儿寡妇。（以赛亚书9:14-15，17）
耶利米书：
我在这地的城门口用簸箕簸了我的百姓；，使他们丧掉儿女。我毁灭我的人民，他们仍不转离他们的道。他们的寡妇在我面前比海沙更多。我使灭命的午间来，攻击少年人的母亲。生过七子的妇人力衰气绝，尚在白昼，日头忽落。（耶利米书15:7-9）
又：
我们的产业归与外邦人；我们的房屋归与外邦人。我们是无父的孤儿；我们的母亲好像寡妇。（耶利米哀歌5:2-3）
由于“寡妇”表示那些因未处于良善而未处于真理的人，故对教会，甚至对那些陷入源于邪恶的虚假的教会来说，被称为寡妇是一种耻辱，如启示录：
她心里说，我坐着作皇后，并不是寡妇，决不会看见悲哀。为此，在一天之内，她的灾殃要一齐来到，就是死亡，悲哀，饥荒，她又要被火烧尽了。（启示录18:7-8）
这论及巴比伦。以赛亚书中的话同样论及巴比伦：
你这专好宴乐、安然居住的，现在当听这话。你心中说，惟有我，没有人比得上我；我必不至寡居，也不遭丧子之事。哪知丧子、寡居这两样祸事在一日转眼之间必临到你。（以赛亚书47:8-9）
由此明显可知，就圣言的内义而言，何谓“寡妇”。由于寡妇代表并因此表示没有教会良善的教会真理（因妻子表示真理，丈夫表示良善），所以在一切事物，无论总体还是细节，都是代表的古代教会，祭司严禁娶非祭司寡妇的寡妇，如摩西五经上记着说：
大祭司要娶处女为妻。寡妇或是被休的妇人，或是被污辱的、做妓女的，他都不可娶；只可娶本民中的处女为妻。（利未记21:13-14）
在以西结书，经上论到新殿和新祭司职分：
祭司利未人不可娶寡妇和被休的妇人为妻；只可娶以色列家之种中的处女，或娶为祭司寡妇的寡妇。（以西结书44:22）
因为他们要娶的“处女”代表并因此表示对真理的情感，“祭司的寡妇”代表并表示对源于良善的真理的情感，因为“祭司”在代表意义上是指教会的良善。因此，作为祭司的女儿，并且没有子女的寡妇也可以吃供物或圣物（利未记22:12，13）
属古教会的人从教会的教义知道“寡妇”的这种含义；因为他们的教义是爱与仁的教义，包含无数如今被完全抹除的事物。他们从这些教义知道要行哪种仁爱，或对邻舍应尽什么样的义务，因而知道谁是所谓的寡妇，谁是孤儿，谁是寄居的，等等。他们从有关真理的宗教知识和记忆知识那里洞察并知道他们教会的宗教仪式代表并表示什么。他们当中有学问的人知道地上和尘世的事物代表什么，因为他们知道整个自然界是代表天国的一个舞台（2758，2989，2999，3483节）。这种知识将他们的心智提升到天上的事物，而他们的教义则引领通向生命的道路。但教会从仁转向信，尤其将信与仁分离，认为没有仁及其行为的信使人得救之后，人的心智再也不能通过宗教知识被提升到天上的事物，也不能通过教会教义被引向生命。事实上，这种衰落是如此之大，以致最后几乎没有人相信死后生命的存在，也几乎没有人知道天堂的任何事。人们根本不相信并未显现在文字中的圣言灵义存在。人们的心智以这种方式被关闭了。
Potts(1905-1910) 4844
4844. Remain a widow in thy father's house. That this signifies alienation from itself, is evident from the fact that thereby he wanted her to go away and return no more to him. He indeed told her to remain there until Shelah his son was grown up; but still he thought that she would not be given to Shelah his son, for he said in himself, "Lest he also die, like his brethren." This is proved also by his action in the matter, as appears from verse 14: "Tamar saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife." From this it follows that by his words is signified that he alienated her away from himself; that is, in the internal sense, that the church representative of spiritual and celestial things, which is represented by Tamar (n. 4811, 4831), was alienated from the Jewish Church, which is represented by Judah. For they could not agree together, because Judaism was only a representative of a church, and not a representative church (n. 4307, 4500); because it acknowledged what is external, but not what is internal. [2] A "widow" also signifies the truth of the church without its good, because a "wife" in the representative sense signifies truth, and a "husband" good (see n. 4823, 4843); wherefore a wife without a husband is the truth of the church without its good. And when it is said of her that she should "remain in her father's house," it signifies that the truth of the church would be alienated, and also that it would not be received in his house; neither could the Jewish nation receive it, because it was not in good, but in evil. [3] A "widow" is often mentioned in the Word, and one unacquainted with the internal sense cannot but believe that by a "widow" is signified a widow. But a "widow" in the internal sense signifies the truth of the church without good, that is, those who are in truth without good and still desire to be in good, consequently who love to be led by good; and a "husband" is the good which should lead. In the Ancient Church such persons were understood in the good sense by widows, whether they were women or men. For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbor toward whom they were to exercise charity into a number of classes, some of which they called poor, some miserable and afflicted, some bound and in prison, some blind and lame, and others strangers, orphans, and widows; and they dispensed works of charity to them according to their qualities. Their doctrinals taught them these things; and that church knew no other doctrinals. Wherefore they who lived at that time both taught and wrote according to their doctrinals, and consequently when they spoke of widows they had in mind no other than such as were in truth without good and yet desired to be led by good. [4] From this it is also plain that the doctrinals of the Ancient Church taught those things which related to charity and the neighbor, and that their knowledges consisted in knowing what external things signified. For the church was representative of spiritual and celestial things, and therefore the spiritual and celestial things which were represented and signified were what they learned by means of doctrinals and knowledges. But these doctrinals and knowledges are at this day entirely obliterated, and indeed to such a degree that it is not known that they ever existed; for the doctrinals of faith succeeded in their place, which if widowed and separated from those of charity, teach almost nothing. For the doctrinals of charity teach what good is, but the doctrinals of faith what truth is, and to teach truth without good is to walk as one who is blind, because good is what teaches and leads, and truth is what is taught and led. There is as great a difference between these two doctrinals as between light and darkness; and unless the darkness be illumined by the light, that is, unless truth be illumined by good, or faith by charity, there is nothing but darkness. Hence it is that no one knows by looking at it, and consequently neither from perception, whether truth is truth, but only from doctrine imbibed in childhood and confirmed in adult age. Hence also it is that churches differ so widely that what one calls truth, another calls falsity, and they are never in agreement. [5] That by "widows" in a good sense are signified those who are in truth without good, but still desire to be led by good, is evident from the passages in the Word in which "widows" are mentioned, as in David:
Jehovah, who executeth judgment for the oppressed, who giveth food to the hungry; Jehovah, who looseth the bound; Jehovah, who openeth [the eyes of] the blind; Jehovah, who raiseth up them that are bowed down; Jehovah, who loveth the just; Jehovah, who preserveth the sojourners; He upholdeth the orphan and the widow (Ps. 146:7-9);
here in the internal sense those are meant who are instructed in truths and led to good by the Lord; but some of these are called the "oppressed," some the "hungry," others the "bound," the "blind," those who are "bowed down," the "sojourners," the "orphan," and the "widow," and this according to their quality; but what this is, no one can know except from the internal sense. The doctrinals of the Ancient Church taught this. In this passage, as in several others, the sojourner, orphan, and widow are named jointly, because by the "sojourner" are signified those who wish to be instructed in the truths of faith (n. 1463, 4444), by the "orphan," those who are in good without truth and desire to be led to good by means of truth, and by the "widow," those who are in truth without good, and desire to be led to truth by means of good. These three are named jointly here and elsewhere in the Word for the reason that in the internal sense they constitute one class, inasmuch as by them, taken together, are signified those who wish to be instructed and to be led to good and truth. [6] Again:
A father of the orphans, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of His holiness (Ps. 68:5);
the "orphans" denote those who, like little children, are in the good of innocence, but not yet in truth, whose father is said to be the Lord, because He leads them as a father, and this through truth into good, that is, into the good of life or of wisdom. "Widows" denote those who as adults are in truth, but not yet in good, whose judge is said to be the Lord, because He leads them, and this through good into truth, that is, into the truth of intelligence; for by a "judge" is signified one who leads. Good without truth, which is the "orphan," becomes the good of wisdom through the doctrine of truth; and truth without good, which is the "widow," becomes the truth of intelligence through a life of good. [7] In Isaiah:
Woe unto them that decree statutes of iniquity to turn aside the poor from judgment, and to take away into judgment the miserable of My people, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may plunder the orphans (Isa. 10:1-2);
here by the "miserable," the "poor," the "widows," and the "orphans," are signified not those who are naturally, but those who are spiritually such; and because in the Jewish church, as in the Ancient, all things were representative, it was also representative to do good to the orphans and the widows; for thus charity toward those who in the spiritual sense were such was represented in heaven. [8] In Jeremiah:
Do ye judgment and justice, and rescue the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; and defraud not the sojourner, the orphan, or the widow, neither do violence, neither shed innocent blood in this place (Jer. 22:3);
here also by the "sojourner, the orphan, and the widow" are signified those who are spiritually such; for in the spiritual world or heaven it is not known who the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow are, those who have been in this condition in the world not being so there; and therefore when these words are read by man, they are perceived by angels according to their spiritual or internal sense. [9] Likewise in Ezekiel:
Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his arm, have been in thee to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the sojourner; in thee have they defrauded the orphan and the widow (Ezek. 22:6-7). Also in Malachi:
I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the orphan, and that turn aside the sojourner, and fear not Me (Mal. 3:5). And in Moses:
A sojourner shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him. Ye shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If thou shalt afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto Me, I will surely hear their cry; and My anger shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your sons orphans (Exod. 22:21-24). [10] This, like all the rest of the precepts, judgments, and statutes in the Jewish Church, was representative; and in that church they were kept so to do in externals, and by such things to represent the internal things of charity, although they had nothing of charity, nor did them from internal affection. The internal was from affection to instruct in truths and to lead by truths to good those who were in ignorance, and to lead by good to truths those who had knowledge; whereby they would have done good in the spiritual sense to the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow. Yet that the external might remain for the sake of representation, it was among the curses pronounced on Mount Ebal, to turn aside the judgment of the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow (Deut. 27:19). To "turn aside their judgment" means to do what is contrary, that is, by instruction and life to lead to what is false and evil. And because depriving others of goods and truths, and appropriating them to self for the sake of self-honor and gain was among those curses, the Lord said:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees! For ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers; therefore ye shall receive more abundant judgment (Matt. 23:14; Luke 20:47);
"devouring widows' houses" means taking away truths from those who desire them, and teaching falsities. [11] In like manner it was representative that what was left in the fields, oliveyards, and vineyards, should be for the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow (Deut. 24:19-22); and also that when they had made an end of tithing the tithes of their increase in the third year, they should give it to the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, that they might eat within their gates, and be filled (Deut. 26:12). Because it is the Lord alone who instructs, and leads to good and truth, it is said in Jeremiah:
Leave thy orphans, I will make them alive; and the widows shall confide upon Me (Jer. 49:11);
and in Moses:
Jehovah doth execute the judgment of the orphan and widow, and loveth the sojourner, in giving him bread and raiment (Deut. 10:18);
"bread" denotes the good of love (n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735); "raiment," the truth of faith (n. 4545, 4763). [12] What is related of Elijah, that when there was a famine for want of rain in the land he was sent to Zarephath to a widow, and that he asked of her a little cake, which she was first to make and to give to him, and was afterwards to make for herself and her son, and that then the barrel of meal with her was not consumed, and the cruse of oil did not fail (1 Kings 17:1-16), was representative, like all the other things related of Elijah, and in general all that are in the Word. The famine that was in the land because there was no rain, represented the vastation of truth in the church (see n. 1460, 3364); the widow in Zarephath represented those outside of the church who desire truth; the cake which she was to make for him first, represented the good of love to the Lord (n. 2177), whom, out of the little she had, she was to love above herself and her son; the barrel of meal signifies truth from good (n. 2177), and the cruse of oil charity and love (n. 886, 3728, 4582); Elijah represents the Word, by means of which such things are done (see n. 2762). [13] This is meant also, in the internal sense, by the Lord's words in Luke:
No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when there was a great famine over all the land; but unto none of them was Elijah sent, except to Zarephath of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow (Luke 4:24-26);
that is, to those without the church who desire truth. But the widows within the vastated church, to whom Elijah was not sent, are they who are not in truth, because not in good, for wherever there is no good there is also no truth, however much truth may appear with them in outer form like truth, and yet be as a shell without a kernel. [14] They who are in such truth, and also they who are in falsity, are signified by "widows" in the opposite sense-as in Isaiah:
Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day. The elder and the honored in faces is the head, and the prophet the teacher of a lie is the tail. Therefore the Lord will not be glad over their young men, neither will He have compassion on their orphans and widows (Isa. 9:14-15, 17). In Jeremiah:
I will fan them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; they have not turned from their ways. Their widows are increased to Me above the sand of the seas; I will bring to them, upon the mother a young man, a waster at noonday. She that hath borne seven languisheth; she hath breathed out her soul, her sun is gone down while it is yet day (Jer. 15:7-9). Again:
Our inheritance is turned unto strangers, our houses unto aliens. We have become fatherless orphans, our mothers are as widows (Lam. 5:2-3). [15] As by "widows" were signified those who are not in truth because not in good, it was reproachful for churches, even such as were in falsities from evil, to be called widows-as in Revelation:
She hath said in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and I shall not see mourning. Therefore in one day shall her plagues come, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be burned with fire (Rev. 18:7-8);
speaking of Babylon. In like manner of the same in Isaiah: Hear this, thou delicate one, that sitteth securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else like me; I shall not sit a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children. But these two evils shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood (Isa. 47:8-9). [16] From all this it is now evident what is meant by a "widow" in the internal sense of the Word; and as a widow represented and thence signified the truth of the church without its good-because a wife signifies truth and a husband good-therefore, in the ancient churches, where all things in general and particular were representative, it was forbidden the priests to marry a widow who was not the widow of a priest, as is written in Moses:
The high priest shall take a wife in her virginity. A widow, or one divorced, or a polluted woman, or a harlot, these shall he not take; but a virgin of his own people shall he take to wife (Lev. 21:13-14);
and concerning the new temple and the new priesthood in Ezekiel: The priests, the Levites, shall not take for their wives a widow, nor one divorced; but they shall take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel; yet a widow that is the widow of a priest they may take (Ezek. 44:22). For the virgins whom they were to marry represented and thence signified the affection of truth, and the widow of a priest the affection of truth from good; for a "priest" in the representative sense is the good of the church. For this reason it was also allowed the widows who were daughters of a priest, who were childless, to eat of the offerings or holy things (Lev. 22:12, 13). [17] That this is the signification of a "widow," was known from their doctrinals to those who were of the Ancient Church; for their doctrinals were doctrinals of love and charity, which contained innumerable things that at this day are wholly obliterated. From these doctrinals they knew what charity to exercise, or what duty they owed the neighbor, thus who were called widows, who orphans, who sojourners, and so on. Their knowledges of truth and memory-knowledges were to know what the rituals of their church represented and signified; and those who were learned among them knew what the things on the earth and in the world represented; for they knew that universal nature was a theater representative of the heavenly kingdom (n. 2758, 2989, 2999, 3483). Such things elevated their minds to heavenly things, and their doctrinals led to life. But after the church turned aside from charity to faith, and still more after it separated faith from charity, and made faith saving without charity and its works, men's minds could no longer be elevated by knowledges to heavenly things, nor by doctrinals be led to life; and this to such a degree that at last scarcely anyone believes that there is any life after death, and scarcely anyone knows what the heavenly is. That there is any spiritual sense in the Word which does not appear in the letter, cannot be believed. In this way men's minds have been closed.
Elliott(1983-1999) 4844
4844. 'Remain a widow in your father's house' means the alienation of this Church from the Jewish Church. This becomes clear from the fact that Judah's wish was that by doing this she would go away and not return to him any more. He did, it is true, say that she should remain there until Shelah his son was grown up; nevertheless he had it in mind not to give her to Shelah his son, for he said to himself, 'In case he also dies, like his brothers'. He gave further proof of his intentions by his actions, as is evident from verse 14 - 'Tamar saw that Shelah had grown up, and she had not been given to him as a wife'. From all this it is evident that the words used here mean that he alienated her from himself. That is, the meaning in the internal sense is that he alienated the Church representative of spiritual and celestial things - the Church represented by 'Tamar', 4811, 4831 - from the Jewish Church represented by 'Judah'. The two could not be in agreement with each other because Judaism was not a representative Church, only a representative of the Church, 4307, 4500; for it acknowledged what was external but not that which was internal.
[2] 'A widow' also means the truth of the Church without its good; for in the representative sense 'a wife' means truth and 'a husband' good, 4823, 4843, and therefore 'e wife without a husband' means the truth of the Church without its good. This being so, when it is said in reference to Tamar that she should remain in the house of her father, the meaning is that the truth of the Church would be alienated, and also that it would not find acceptance in his house, even as the Jewish nation could not accept it because not good but evil was present among that nation.
[3] A widow is referred to many times in the Word; but anyone unacquainted with the internal sense inevitably thinks that 'a widow' means a widow. In the internal sense 'a widow' means the truth of the Church without good, that is, people who have truth that is without good but who nevertheless have a desire for good, who consequently love to be led by good; for 'e husband' means good which ought to take the lead. In the Ancient Church people like these were meant in the good sense by 'the widowed', whether they were women or men. For the Ancient Church distinguished the neighbour to whom charity was to be performed into many separate classes. Some were called the poor, some the wretched and afflicted, some the bound and in prison, some the blind and the lame, and others strangers, orphans, and widows. It performed different charitable works, whichever were appropriate to the character each class possessed. The teachings of that Church showed them what those works were, for that Church had no other teachings than these. Therefore whenever those living in those times either taught or wrote, they did so in conformity with these teachings, so that when they spoke of 'widows' they meant none but the kind of persons among whom truth existed without good but who nevertheless had a desire to be led to good.
[4] From this it is also evident that the teachings of the Ancient Church were ones that had to do with charity and the neighbour, and that all its religious knowledge and factual knowledge existed to enable people to know what was meant spiritually by external things For the Church was representative of spiritual and celestial things, and therefore it was these spiritual and celestial things, represented and meant by that Church, that people came to know about through the Church's teachings and through its factual knowledge. But those teachings and factual knowledge have become at the present day completely wiped out, so completely indeed that there is no knowledge of their having existed. For their place has been taken by teachings to do with faith which, if widowed and separated from those to do with charity, have virtually nothing to teach. For teachings to do with charity show what good is, but those to do with faith show what truth is. Teaching what truth is without what good is amounts to walking like someone blind, it being good that is the teacher and leader, truth the one that is taught and led. Between the two kinds of teaching there is a vast difference, as great as that between light and darkness. If the darkness is not lightened by means of the light, that is, if truth is not lightened by good, or faith by charity, it is nothing but darkness. For this reason no one knows intuitively, nor consequently by perception, whether truth is the truth; he knows it only from what he was taught and what he absorbed in childhood and substantiated in adult years. This also explains why Churches are so much at variance with one another, one giving the name truth to that which another calls falsity, and are never in agreement.
[5] The meaning in the good sense of 'widows' as people who have truth existing without good but who nevertheless have a desire to be led by good may be seen from places in the Word where widows are mentioned, as in David,
Jehovah who executes judgement for the oppressed, who gives bread to the starving, Jehovah who sets the bound free; Jehovah who opens the blind [eyes]; Jehovah who lifts up the bowed down; Jehovah who loves the righteous; Jehovah who guards sojourners, upholds the orphan and the widow. Ps 146:7-9.
This refers, in the internal sense, to those whom the Lord furnishes with truths and leads to good. But some of them are called the oppressed, some the starving, while others are called the bound, the blind, the bowed down, sojourners, orphans and widows, each name appropriate to the character of the ones to whom it is applied. No one however can know what each particular nature is except from the internal sense; but the teachings of the Ancient Church showed what any particular nature was. Here, as in many other places, sojourner, orphan, and widow are referred to jointly because 'a sojourner' means those who wish to be furnished with the truths of faith, 1463, 4444, 'an orphan' those with whom good exists without truth but who have a desire to be led to good by means of truth, and 'a widow' those with whom truth exists without good and who have a desire to be led to truth by means of good. These three are referred to jointly here and elsewhere in the Word because in the internal sense they form a single group, for all three together mean those who wish to be taught and to be led to good and truth.
[6] In the same author,
A father of the orphans, and a judge of the widows, is God in the habitation of His holiness. Ps 68:5.
'The orphans' stands for those with whom, like young children, the good that goes with innocence is present but no truth as yet. The Lord is said to be 'a father' of these because He leads them like a father; He leads them by means of truth into good, that is to say, into the good constituting life or wisdom. 'The widows' stands for those who as adults know the truth but are not as yet doing good. The Lord is said to be 'a judge' of these because He leads them; He leads them by means of good into truth, that is to say, into the truth constituting intelligence. For by 'a judge' a leader is meant. Good without truth, meant by 'an orphan', is made into good filled with wisdom by means of teaching about truth; and truth without good, meant by 'a widow', is made into truth filled with intelligence by means of a life of good.
[7] In Isaiah,
Woe to those decreeing decrees of iniquity, to turn aside the poor from judgement and to carry off into judgement the wretched of My people, so that widows may be their spoil and so that they may make orphans their prey. Isa 10:1, 2.
Here 'the poor', 'the wretched', 'widows', and 'orphans' do not mean those who are literally so but those who are spiritually such. Now because in the Jewish Church, as in the Ancient, everything was representative, so also was doing good to orphans and widows, for doing good to these represented in heaven charity towards those who are orphans and widows in the spiritual sense.
[8] In Jeremiah,
Do judgement and righteousness, and deliver the plundered out of the hand of the oppressor; and do not defraud the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow, and do not use force, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jer 22:3.
Here also 'the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow' means those who are spiritually such. In the spiritual world or heaven they do not know who a sojourner, orphan, or widow is, for the condition of such persons there is not the same as what it had been in the world. When therefore these words are read by man, angels perceive the spiritual or internal meaning they possess.
[9] Similarly in Ezekiel,
Behold, the princes of Israel, each according to his power,a have in you been intent on shedding blood; in you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have dealt with the sojourner by means of oppression; in you they have defrauded the orphan and the widow. Ezek 22:6, 7.
Also in Malachi,
I will draw near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against those who swear falsely, and against oppressors of the hireling in his wages, of the widow and the orphan, and [against] those who turn aside the sojourner, and do not fear Me. Mal 3:5.
Similarly in Moses,
You shall not press down a sojourner or oppress him. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan If you do indeed afflict him, and if he indeed cries out to Me, I will surely hear his cry, and My anger will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, so that your wives become widows, and your children orphans. Exod 22:21-24.
[10] This, like every other commandment, judgement, and statute in the Jewish Church, was representative. Also, members of that Church were tied down to things of an external nature so that they would observe that command, and by means of their observance of it they represented the inner spirit of charity, even though they themselves had no charity, that is, they did not act from any inner affection. An inner spirit flowed from an affection to furnish with truths those who were without knowledge, and to lead those people to good by means of truths. If they had done this, members of the Jewish Church would have been doing good, in a spiritual sense, to the sojourner, orphan, and widow. But so that what was external might be kept going for the sake of what it represented, the curses declared on Mount Ebal included 'turning aside the judgement of the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow', Deut 27:19. 'Turning aside the judgement of these' stands for doing the reverse, that is, leading through teaching and life to falsity and evil. Also, because taking goods and truths away from others, and then making them one's own so as to enhance one's own position and gain, was included among curses, the Lord therefore said,
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! for you devour widows' houses, and for a presence you make long prayers; on account of this you will receive greater condemnation.b Matt 23:14; Luke 20:47.
'Devouring widows' houses' stands for taking truths away from those who have a desire for them, and teaching them falsities.
[11] To leave for the sojourner, orphan, and widow that which remained in fields, olivegroves, and vineyards, Deut 24:19-22, was likewise representative. So too was the command that when they had finished paying the tithes of their produce in the third year, the people should give to the sojourner, orphan, and widow, so that they ate within their gates and were satisfied, Deut 26:12, 13. It being the Lord alone who teaches a person and leads him to good and truth, it is said in Jeremiah,
Leave your orphans, I will keep them alive; and the widows will trust in Me. Jer 49:10, 11.
And in Moses,
Jehovah executes judgement for the orphan and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him bread and clothing. Deut 10:18.
'Bread' stands for the good of love, 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, and 'clothing' for the truth of faith, 4545, 4763.
[12] It is recorded in 1 Kings 17:1-17 that Elijah was sent, when there was a famine because there was no rain in the land, to a widow in Zarephath. He asked her for a little cake, which she had to make for him first and give it to him; after that she was to make one for herself and her son. When she did so her jar of meal was not used up and her cruse of oil did not run dry. All this was representative, like everything else recorded about Elijah, and in general throughout the Word. 'A famine in the land because there was no rain' represented truth laid waste within the Church, 1460, 3364; 'a widow in Zarephath' those outside the Church who have a desire for truth; 'a cake which she had to make for him first' the good of love to the Lord, 2177, whom, from the very little she had, she was to love above herself and her son. 'The jar of meal' means truth derived from good, 2177, and 'the cruse of oil' charity and love, 886, 3728, 4582. 'Elijah' represents the Word, by means of which such things are effected, 2762.
[13] The same is also meant, in the internal sense, by the Lord's words in Luke,
No prophet is accepted in his own country. In truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, while there was a great famine over the whole land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them, except to a woman - a widow - in Zarephath of Sidon. Luke 4:24-26.
That is, he was sent to those outside the Church who had a desire for truth. But 'widows' within the Church that had been laid waste, to whom Elijah was not sent, are those with whom no truth exists because no good does so; for where there is no good neither is there any truth. However much among those people truth seems to outward appearance like truth it is nothing more so to speak than a shell without any nut in it.
[14] Those among whom this kind of truth exists, also those among whom falsity exists, are meant by 'widows' in the contrary sense, as in Isaiah,
Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, the branch and the bulrush in one day. The old and the honourable in face is the head, and the prophet, the teacher of a lie, the tail. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over its young men, and He will not have compassion on its orphans and its widows. Isa 9:14, 15, 17.
In Jeremiah,
I will winnow them with a winnowing-fork in the gates of the land; I will bereave, I will destroy My people; they have not turned from their ways. Their widows are increased to Me more than the sand of the seas. I will bring to them, against the mother of the young men, one who lays waste at midday. She who bore seven languishes; she has breathed her last. Her sun is going down while it is still day. Jer. 15:7-9.
In the same prophet,
Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our houses to foreigners. We have become orphans with no father; our mothers are widows. Lam. 5:2, 3.
[15] Because 'widows' meant those with whom no truth existed because no good did so, it was therefore shameful for Churches to be called widows, even those Churches governed by falsities springing from evil, as in John,
In her heart she said, A queen I sit, and I am no widow, and shall not see mourning. On account of this in one day will her plagues come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire. Rev. 18:7, 8.
This refers to Babel. A similar reference to Babel occurs in Isaiah,
Hear this, you lover of pleasures, sitting securely, saying in her heart, I am, and there is no one else like me; a widow I shall not sit, nor shall I know loss of children. But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day - loss of children and widowhood. Isa. 47:8, 9.
[16] From these quotations one may now see what is meant by 'a widow' in the internal sense of the Word. One may see that since 'a widow' represented and consequently meant the truth of the Church without its good - for 'a wife' meant truth and 'a husband' good - priests in the Ancient Churches, in which every single thing was representative, were therefore forbidden to marry any widow who was not a priest's widow, as the following in Moses declares,
The high priest shall take a wife in her virginity; a widow or a woman that has been put away or one defiled or a prostitute, these he shall not take, but a virgin of his own people shall he take as his wife. Lev. 21:13-15.
And in the references to a new temple and a new priesthood in Ezekiel,
Priests the Levites shall not take as wives for themselves a widow or a woman that has been put away, but virgins from the seed of the house of Israel; but a widow who is the widow of a priest may they take. Ezek. 44:22.
For 'the virgins' whom they were to marry represented and consequently meant the affection for truth, and 'the widow of a priest' the affection for truth from good, since 'e priest' in the representative sense is the good of the Church. For this reason also any widow [who was the daughter] of a priest and who had no children was allowed to eat some of the offerings or holy things, Lev. 22:12, 13.
[17] Those who belonged to the Ancient Church knew this meaning of 'a widow' from the teachings of the Church, for among them these teachings had to do with love and charity, which included countless matters which at the present day have become completely wiped out. From them they knew which particular kind of charitable act they were required to perform - that is, which service they ought to render towards the neighbour - for those who were called 'widows', for those who were called 'orphans', for those who were called 'sojourners', and so on. From their religious knowledge of truth and from factual knowledge they had a discernment and a knowledge of what the ritual observances of their Church represented and meant. The learned among them knew what it was that things on earth and in this world represented, for they recognized that the whole natural creation was a theatre representative of the heavenly kingdom, 2758, 2989, 2999, 3483. Such knowledge raised their minds up to heavenly things, and the teachings of their Church led the way to life. But after the Church turned aside from charity to faith, more so after it separated faith from charity, and made faith without charity and the works of charity the bringer of salvation, their minds could no longer be raised up by means of religious knowledge to heavenly things, nor be led by any means of the teachings of the Church to life. Indeed the decline has been so great that in the end scarcely anyone believes in a life after death, and scarcely anyone knows anything about heaven. Also, there is no belief at all in the existence of a spiritual sense of the Word which is not visible in the letter. In this way people's minds have become closed.
Latin(1748-1756) 4844
4844. `Mane vidua domo patris tui': quod significet abalienationem a se, constare potest ex eo quod per id vellet ut recederet, et ad se non amplius rediret; dixit quidem ut maneret ibi usque dum adolesceret Shelah filius ejus, sed usque cogitavit quod Shelae filio suo non illa daretur, dixit enim apud se `forte moriatur etiam hic sicut fratres ejus', et quoque facto comprobavit, ut patet a vers. 14, `Vidit Tamar quod adolevit Shelah, et illa non data ei in mulierem'; inde nunc sequitur quod per illa verba significetur quod abalienaret illam a se; hoc est, in sensu interno Ecclesiam repraesentativam spiritualium et caelestium quae per `Tamarem' repraesentatur, n. 4811, 4831, ab Ecclesia Judaica quae per `Jehudam'; concordare enim non poterant quia Judaismus erat solum Ecclesiae repraesentativum non autem Ecclesia repraesentativa, n. 4307, 4500, nam externum agnovit, non autem internum. `Vidua' etiam significat Ecclesiae 2 verum absque ejus bono, quia `uxor' in sensu repraesentativo significat verum, et `maritus' bonum, n. 4823, 4843, quapropter `uxor absque marito' est Ecclesiae verum absque ejus bono, de qua cum dicitur quod `maneret in domo patris sui', significatur quod Ecclesiae verum abalienaretur, et quoque quod non reciperetur in sua domo; quod nec (t)gens Judaica potuit quia non in bono sed in malo fuit. Vidua 3 in Verbo multoties memoratur et qui sensum internum non novit, non aliter credere potest quam quod per `viduam' significetur vidua;sed per `viduam' in sensu interno significatur ibi Ecclesiae verum absque bono, hoc est, illi qui in vero sunt absque bono, et usque desiderant in bono esse, consequenter qui amant duci per bonum;
`maritus' est bonum quod duceret; tales in Antiqua Ecclesia intelligebantur in bono sensu per `viduas', sive feminae sive viri essent; Antiqua enim Ecclesia distinxit proximum erga quem charitatem exercerent, in plures classes, quosdam vocabat pauperes, quosdam miseros et afflictos, quosdam vinctos et in carcere, quosdam caecos et claudos, quosdam peregrinos, orphanos et viduas, et secundum qualitates eorum dispensabant charitatis opera;
doctrinalia (c)illorum illa docebant; illa Ecclesia non alia doctrinalia novit; quapropter qui tunc temporis vivebant, secundum sua doctrinalia et docebant et scribebant, proinde cum dicebant `viduas,' non aliud intelligebant quam tales qui in 4 vero essent absque bono et usque desiderarent duci per bonum;
inde etiam patet quod doctrinalia Antiquae Ecclesiae docerent illa quae charitatis et proximi erant, ac cognitiones et scientifica illorum {1}erant ut scirent quid significarent externa; Ecclesia enim repraesentativa spiritualium et caelestium fuit, idcirco spiritualia et caelestia quae repraesentabantur et significabantur, erant quae per doctrinalia et scientias addiscebantur, sed haec doctrinalia et haec scientifica hodie prorsus obliterata sunt, et quidem in tantum ut non sciatur quod fuerint; loco enim eorum successerunt doctrinalia fidei, {2}quae si viduata et separata sunt a doctrinalibus charitatis, fere nihil docent; doctrinalia enim charitatis docent quid bonum, at doctrinalia fidei quid verum, et docere verum absque bono, est ambulare sicut caecus, nam bonum est quod docet et ducit, et verum est quod docetur et ducitur; inter illa bina doctrinalia est tanta differentia, quanta inter lucem et tenebras; nisi tenebrae per lucem illustrantur, hoc est, nisi verum per bonum, seu fides per charitatem, non sunt nisi quam tenebrae:
(m)inde est quod nemo sciat ex intuitione consequenter nec a perceptione num verum sit verum, sed solum ex doctrina hausta in pueritia et {3} confirmata in adulta aetate, inde etiam est quod Ecclesiae tantum discrepent, et una dicat id verum quod altera falsum, et quod 5 nusquam conveniant.(n) Quod per viduas in bono sensu significentur qui in vero absque bono sunt, at usque desiderant per bonum duci, constare potest a locis in Verbo ubi viduae nominantur, ut apud Davidem, Jehovah Qui facit judicium oppressis,Qui dat {4}panem famelicis, Jehovah Qui solvit vinctos, Jehovah Qui aperit caecos, Jehovah Qui erigit incurvatos, Jehovah Qui amat justos, Jehovah Qui custodit peregrinos, pupillum et viduam sustentat, Ps. cxlvi 7-9;
agitur hic in sensu interno de illis qui a Domino instruuntur in veris et ducuntur ad bonum; sed quidam eorum vocantur oppressi, quidam famelici, quidam vincti, caeci, incurvati, peregrini, pupilli, viduae, et hoc secundum quale eorum; {5}at quale nemo scire potest quam ex sensu interno; doctrinalia Ecclesiae Antiquae docuerunt illud; hic ut in pluribus aliis locis, junctim nominantur peregrinus, pupillus, et vidua, quia per `peregrinum' significantur illi qui in veris fidei instrui volunt, n.1463, 4444, per `pupillum' qui in bono sunt absque vero et desiderant per verum duci ad bonum, et per "viduam' qui in vero sunt absque bono, et desiderant per bonum duci ad verum; tres illi nominantur junctim hic et alibi in Verbo quia in sensu interno unam classem constituunt, nam per illos simul significantur qui instrui volunt et duci ad bonum et verum: apud eundem, Pater pupillorum, et judex viduarum Deus in habitaculo sanctitatis Suae, Ps. lxviii 6 [A.V.5];
`pupilli' pro illis qui sicut infantes in bono innocentiae sunt, sed nondum in vero, quorum `pater' dicitur Dominus quia sicut pater ducit illos, et hoc per verum in bonum, nempe in bonum vitae seu sapientiae; 'viduae' pro illis qui sicut adulti in vero sunt sed nondum in bono, quorum `judex' dicitur Dominus quia ducit illos et hoc per bonum in verum, nempe in verum intelligentiae; per 'judicem' enim significatur ductor; bonum {6} absque vero quod est `pupillus', fit bonum sapientiae per doctrinam veri; et verum absque bono quod `vidua', fit verum intelligentiae per vitam boni:
apud eundem, Vae statuentibus statuta iniquitatis...ad declinandum a judicio pauperes, et ad rapiendum in judicium miseros populi Mei, ut sint viduae spolium eorum, et pupillos depraedentur, X I, 2;
hic per `pauperes, miseros, viduas et pupillos' non illi significantur, sed qui spiritualiter tales sunt; et quia in Ecclesia Judaica sicut in Antiqua omnia repraesentativa erant, etiam {7}erat benefacere pupillis et viduis, (m)tunc enim repraesentabatur in caelo charitas erga illos 8 qui in spirituali sensu tales erant:(n) apud Jeremiam, Facite judicium et justitiam, et eripite, spoliatum e manu oppressoris, et peregrinum pupillum et viduam ne defraudate, neque vim facite, neque sanguinem innocentem effundite in loco hoc, xxii 3;
hic quoque per `peregrinum, pupillum et viduam' significantur qui spiritualiter tales sunt; in mundo enim spirituali seu caelo non noscitur quis peregrinus, quis pupillus et quae vidua, non enim tales sunt ibi qui tales fuerunt in mundo, idcirco verba haec, cum leguntur ab homine, ab angelis secundum sensum eorum spiritualem seu internum 9 percipiuntur: similiter apud Ezechielem, Ecce principes Israelis quisque juxta brachium suum fuerunt in te, ut effunderent sanguinem, patrem et matrem vilipenderunt in te, cum peregrino egerunt per oppressionem in te, pupillum et viduam defraudarunt in te, xxii 6, 7:
tum apud Malachiam, Accedam ad vos in judicium, et ero testis festinans contra praestigiatores,...et contra jurantes falso, et contra oppressores mercedis mercenarii, viduae et pupilli, et declinantes peregrinum;
nec timent Me, iii 5:
similiter apud Mosen, Peregrinum non premes, neque illum opprimes,...ullam viduam aut orphanum non affligetis, si affligendo afflixeris eum, et si clamando clamaverit ad Me, audiendo audiam clamorem ejus, et exardescet ira Mea, et occisurus sum vos gladio, ut fiant uxores vestrae viduae, et filii vestri orphani, Exod. xxii 20-23 [A.V.21-
24];
10 hoc, sicut omnia reliqua praecepta, judicia et statuta in Ecclesia Judaica, repraesentativum fuit, et quoque ibi tenebantur in externis ita facere, et per talia repraesentare charitatis interna, tametsi nihil charitatis haberent, seu {8}non ex interna affectione facerent; internum erat ex affectione instruere in veris ac ducere per vera ad bonum qui in ignorantia fuerunt, et per bonum ad vera qui in scientia, sic {9}bonum fecissent in spirituali sensu peregrino, pupillo et viduae; ut usque externum maneret repraesentationis causa, inter maledictiones dictatas super monte Ebal erat `declinare judicium peregrini, orphani et viduae' Deut. xxvii (x)19; `declinare judicium eorum' pro contrarium facere, hoc est, per instructionem et vitam ducere ad falsum et {10} malum:
(m)quia etiam deprivare alios bonis et veris, et sibi {11} appropriare illa sui honoris et lucri causa, inter maledictiones erat, ideo Dominus {12} dixit, Vae vobis scribae et Pharisaei, quia comeditis domos viduarum, idque praetextu quod prolixe oretis, propter hoc accipietis abundantius judicium, Matth. xxiii 14; Luc. xx 47;
'comedere domos viduarum' pro deprivare illos qui desiderant, veris, et docere falsa.(n) Pariter repraesentativum fuit quod relicta in agris, in 11 olivetis et vineis essent peregrino, pupillo et viduae, Deut. xxiv 19-22; tum {13}Quando absolverint decimare decimas proventus sui in anno tertio,...darent peregrino, pupilla et viduae, ut comederent in portis eorum, et saturarentur, Deut. xxvi (x)12, 13. Quia Dominus solus est qui instruit et ad bonum et verum ducit, dicitur apud Jeremiam, Relinque orphanos tuos, Ego vivificabo, et viduae super Me confident, xlix 10, 11:
et apud Mosen, Jehovah facit judicium orphani et viduae, et amat peregrinum ad dandum illi panem et vestem, Deut. x 18;
`panis' pro bono amoris, {14}n. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, {15}`vestis' pro vero fidei, n. 4545, 4763. Quod Elias, cum fuit fames ex non pluvia in terra missus 12 sit {16}Sareptam ad viduam, ac petierit ab illa placentam parvam, quam faceret priore loco et daret illi, ac sibi et filio suo posteriore loco, et quod tunc apud illam cadus farinae non consumeretur, et lenticula olei non deficeret, I Reg. xvii 1-13, repraesentativum fuit, sicut omnia reliqua quae de Elia memorantur, et in genere quae in Verbo; `fames quae in terra quia non pluvia' repraesentabat vastationem veri in Ecclesia, n. 1460, 3364, `vidua in Sarepta' illos extra Ecclesiam qui desiderant verum; `placenta quam illi faceret priore loco' bonum amoris in {17}Dominum, n. 2177, quem ex pusillo suo amaret supra se et filium suum; `cadus farinae' significat verum ex bono, n. 2177; et `lenticula olei' charitatem et amorem, n. 886, 3728, 4582, `Elias' repraesentat Verbum per quod talia, n. 2762; `hoc etiam in sensu interno intelligitur per Domini 13 verba apud Lucam, Nullus propheta acceptus est in patria sua: in veritate dico vobis, multae viduae erant in diebus Eliae in Israel, cum clausum fuit caelum per annos tres et menses sex, dum fuit fames magna super totam terram, ad nullam tamen earum missus est Elias nisi in Sareptam Sidonis, ad mulierem viduam, iv 25-26;
hoc est, ad illos extra Ecclesiam qui desiderant verum; `viduae' autem quae intra Ecclesiam vastatam, ad quas Elias non missus, sunt qui non in vero sunt quia non in bono, nam ubi non bonum ibi nec verum, utcumque apud illos verum (t)appareat in externa forma ut verum, 14 sed est sicut crustaceum absque nucleo; qui in tali vero sunt et quoque qui in falso, significantur per viduas in opposito sensu; ut apud Esaiam, Exscindet Jehovah ex Israele caput et caudam, ramum et juncum, die uno, senex et honoratus faciebus caput, et propheta doctor mendacii cauda;...propterea super juvenibus ejus non laetabitur Dominus, et pupillorum ejus ac viduarum ejus non miserebitur, ix 13, 14, 16 [A.V.14,15,17]:
apud Jeremiam, Ventilabo eos ventilabro in portis terrae, orbabo, perdam populum Meum a viis suis non sunt conversi auctae (t)mihi sunt viduae ejus prae arena marium; adducam illis super matrem juvenem vastatorem in meridie;...{18}languet quae pepererat septem, exspiravit animam suam, occidit sol ejus dum adhuc dies, xv 7-9:
apud eundem Hereditas nostra adversa est ad alienos, domus nostrae ad alienigenas, pupilli facti sumus non pater, matres nostrae sicut viduae, Thren. v 2,3,. Quia per 'viduas' significabantur qui non in vero quia non in bono, idcirco ignominiosum erat {19}Ecclesiis etiam quae in {20}falsis ex malo, vocari viduae, sicut apud Johannem, In corde suo dixit, Sedeo regina, et vidua non sum, et planctum non viderim; propter hoc in una die venient plagae ejus, mors et planctus et fames, et igne comburetur, Apoc. xviii 7, 8;
ibi de Babele: similiter de {21}eadem apud Esaiam, Audi hoc delicata, sedens secure, dicens in corde suo, Ego et non sicut ego praeterea non sedebo vidua, nec cognoscam orbitatem:
atqui venient tibi duo ista mala momento in die uno, orbitas et viduitas, xlvii 8, 9. Ex his nunc constare potest quid vidua in sensu interno Verbi; et quoniam `vidua' repraesentabat et inde significabat Ecclesiae verum absque bono ejus, quia `uxor' verum et `maritus' bonum, ideo in Ecclesiis Antiquis, ubi omnia et singula repraesentabant, prohibitum fuit sacerdotibus ducere viduam in uxorem quae non vidua esset ex sacerdote, de quibus ita apud Mosen, Sacerdos magnus uxorem in virginitate ejus accipiet, viduam aut repudiatam aut corruptam aut meretricem, has non accipiet, sed virginem de populis suis accipiet uxorem, Lev. xxi 13-15;
et ubi de novo templo et de novo sacerdotio apud Ezechielem, Sacerdotes Levitae viduam aut repudiatam non accipient sibi in uxores, sed virgines de semine domus Israelis; viduam tamen quae fuerit vidua a sacerdote, accipient, xliv 22;
`virgines' enim quas ducerent uxores, repraesentabant et inde significabant affectionem veri; etiam `vidua (c)a sacerdote' affectionem veri (c)a bono, `sacerdos' enim in sensu repraesentativo est Ecclesiae bonum; {22}ideo quoque licebat viduis ex sacerdote quibus non proles, de oblationibus seu sanctis comedere, Lev. xxii 12, 13. Quod haec 17 significatio viduae sit, noverunt illi qui ab Antiqua Ecclesia ex suis doctrinalibus, doctrinalia enim apud illos erant doctrinalia amoris et charitatis, quae innumerabilia continuerunt quae hodie prorsus obliterata sunt;
ex illis sciebant quam charitatem exercerent seu in quo debito essent erga proximum, qui `viduae' vocabantur, qui `pupilli', qui `peregrini', et sic porro; cognitiones veri illorum et scientifica fuerunt cognoscere et scire quid {23}ritualia Ecclesiae eorum repraesentabant et significabant, et qui docti inter (c)illos fuerunt, sciebant quid illa quae in tellure et mundo repraesentabant, noverunt enim quod universa natura esset theatrum repraesentativum regni caelestis, n. 2758, 2989, 2999, 3483; talia elevabant mentes eorum ad caelestia, et doctrinalia eorum ducebant ad vitam; sed postquam Ecclesia a charitate ad fidem deflexit, et magis postquam fidem separavit a charitate, et illam absque hac et hujus operibus salvificam fecit, tunc mentes non amplius per cognitiones potuerunt elevari ad caelestia, nec per doctrinalia duci ad vitam, et hoc usque adeo ut tandem vix aliquis credat quod vita aliqua post mortem sit, et vix aliquis sciat quid sit caeleste; quod sensus aliquis spiritualis Verbi sit qui non apparet in littera, hoc ne quidem potest credi; ita occlusae sunt mentes. @1 quae quid$ @2 quae in se spectata nihil fere docent, quia viduata et separata sunt a doctrinalibus charitatis$ @3 i dein$ @4 famem AI$ @5 sed$ @6 i enim$ @7 erant pupilli et viduae$ @8 A o (but nihil understood?)$ @9 bonum after viduae$ @10 i ad$ @11 i solis$ @12 i etiam$ @13 cum$ @14 A o all refs. to AC in next 16 lines.$ @15 i et$ @16 Sch has Zorpam, Heb is Zarephath; Sarepta is the form used in NT$ @17 Deum$ @18 linquet AI, but cf. 2584.$ @19 A had but d Ecclesiae, vocari vidua, quia ubi verum et non bonum, ibi nec est Ecclesia; quapropter Ecclesiae etiam quae in falso ex malo, nec vocari voluerunt viduae, and i as above.$ @20 falso$ @21 Babele$ @22 idcirco etiam$ @23 After eorum$