Spiritual Meaning of Ornament

Spiritual Meaning of

Ornament

By ornament in general is signified the Divine truth of the church.

[7] The like is signified by ornament in the following passage:--

Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in double dyed with pleasant things, who put an ornament of gold upon your garment (2 Sam. 1:24);

these words occur in the lamentation of David over Saul, which he wrote to teach the sons of Judah the bow (2 Sam. 1:18), where by bow is signified the doctrine of truth fighting against the falsities of evil (AC 2686, 2709, 6422); consequently by the daughters of Israel are signified the affections of truth that belong to the church (AC 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6788, 8994); to be clothed with double-dyed with pleasant things, denotes with the interior truths of the church which are from good (AC 4922, 9468); to put an ornament of gold upon the garment denotes to make truths beautiful from good. That gold denotes good, see at the places cited in (AC 9874); and that garment denotes truth in general, (AC 10536). That the lamentation of David over Saul treats of the doctrine of truth fighting against the falsity of evil, which doctrine is signified by a bow, was because by a king, or by the royalty which belonged to Saul, is signified Divine truth in respect to protection and to judgment (AC 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148).

[8] The like is signified by ornament elsewhere:--

Give unto Jehovah the glory belonging to His name; bow down before Jehovah in the ornament of holiness (Ps. 29:2);

in the ornament of holiness denotes in the genuine truths of the church. In like manner in Isaiah:--

Thy sons shall make haste. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see all gathered together. As I live, said Jehovah, thou shalt be clothed with all as with an ornament, and be girded round with them as a bride (Isa. 49:17, 18);

also speaking of Zion, by which is signified the celestial church; by the sons who shall make haste are signified the truths of that church. That sons signify truths, (AC 489, 491, 2623, 2803, 2813, 3373, 3704, 4257, 9807). From this it is that it is said that she shall be clothed with them as an ornament, and shall be girded round with them as a bride, which can be said of the truths of the church, but not of the sons of Zion.

[9] As almost all things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so likewise have those which belong to ornament, by which are signified truths falsified, as in these passages:--

When thou art laid waste, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with double-dyed, though thou deckest thee with an ornament of gold, though thou forcest open thine eyes with antimony, in vain shalt thou make thyself beautiful (Jer. 4:30).

I will visit upon her the days of the baals, to which she burned incense, and put on her earring and her ornament, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me (Hos. 2:13).

from AC 10540

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Author: E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

Design: I.J. Thompson, Feb 2002.