. Verse 21. And great hail as of the weight of a talent cometh down from heaven upon men, signifies direful and atrocious falsities, by which every truth of the Word, and thence of the church, is destroyed. That "hail" signifies falsity destroying truth and good, may be seen above (n. 399); and because it is said "great hail as of the weight of a talent," is signified direful and atrocious falsities, by which every truth and good of the Word and thence of the church is destroyed. The reason why it is said "of the weight of a talent" is because a talent was the largest weight of silver and also of gold; and by "silver" is signified truth, and by "gold" good, and in the opposite sense falsity and evil (n. 211). Its being said that "the hail cometh down from heaven upon men," is according to the appearances from which and from correspondences is the literal sense of the Word. This is similar to what was said before of "the plagues," that "they were poured out from heaven upon men by angels" when yet they are truths and goods sent down by the Lord, which among those who are below, are turned into falsities and evils (n. 673). In the spiritual world also, among those who are engaged in reasonings from falsities against the truths of the Word, hail sometimes appears to come down, and upon others sulphur and fire, and because these appear in the atmosphere above them, and come as it were from heaven, therefore from that appearance it is said that such hail came down from heaven.
. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail; signifies that because they had confirmed themselves in such falsities, they have denied truths to that degree as not to be able to acknowledge them, by reason of the repugnances arising from their interior falsities and evils. "To blaspheme" God signifies to deny and not to acknowledge the Lord alone to be the God of heaven and earth (n. 571, 582, 697) and in like manner the truth of the Word; "for the plague thereof was exceeding great," signifies by reason of those direful and atrocious falsities from the confirmed dogma of justification by faith alone (n. 714). The reason why they cannot acknowledge truths on account of those falsities, is, because the confirmation of falsity is the denial of truth. It appears as if it was meant that "the plague of hail" was so great, that from torment or pain they blasphemed God when it fell upon them; but this is not meant, but that they could not acknowledge truths on account of falsities; in like manner as before in this chapter, where it is said that they blasphemed the name of God "on account of the heat" (verse 9); and that "they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their distresses and sores (verse 11); the explanation of which may be seen (n. 692, 697).