Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6146

Previous Number Next Number Next Translation See Latin 

6146. 'And the people, he transferred them to the cities' means that facts holding truths within them were assigned to different areas of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'the people' as truths, dealt with in 1259, 1160, 3295, 3581, at this point facts holding truths within them since the people of Egypt are referred to; and from the meaning of 'the cities' as areas of doctrine, dealt with in 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4497. Consequently 'transferring the people to the cities' means assigning facts that hold truths within them to different areas of doctrine. This follows from what has gone before - from the description that truths were assigned to a general whole within the natural, 6715. For matters of doctrine are general wholes to which truths are assigned. The teaching of the Church divides up under its own headings, and each heading forms a general whole in the Church. From this one may also see that the transfer of the people by Joseph to the cities was carried out so that the relating of truths to general wholes, and so to different areas of doctrine, might be represented.


This page is part of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church