THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES
ELUCIDATED

Edward Madeley

A KEY TO THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICATION
OF
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

By Robert Hindmarsh, in 1820.

<< CHAPTER XXVI >>

AS mention is frequently made in the Word, not only of numbers, but also of weights and measures ; and these latter as well as the former, have in all cases an internal or spiritual signification, without a knowledge of which it is impossible to form a just or adequate conception of the sanctity of the various subjects treated of where they occur ; it is desirable that, to the preceding KEY to the Spiritual Signification of Numbers, should be added a smaller one to that of Weights and Measures, which being of a similar quality and construction, will, it is hoped, equally serve to introduce the student into the temple of wisdom, and on some occasions procure admission for him even when the larger Key has failed to insure it.

Tables of Scripture Weights and Measures.

I. Weights of the Balance.

A shekel in weight, 137 grains, value in money 1s. 3d.
A shekel of the sanctuary (supposed by some, but perhaps without sufficient reason, to be double the weight and value of a common shekel) 274 grains, value 2s. 6d.
A gerah or obolus, the twentieth part of a shekel, value 1 -1/2d.
A maneh, 50 sacred shekels, 2 Ib. 3 oz. 6 pwt. 10.286 gr., value in silver L3 2s.6d. ; in gold L75.
A talent, 3000 sacred shekels, 113 Ib. 10 oz. 1 pwt. 10.286 gr., value in silver L187  10s.; in gold L2250.
A mule's burden, two hundred weight.

II. Measures of Capacity of Things that are Dry.

A cab, 2.8333 pints.
A chomer, the tenth part of an ephah, 5.1 pints.
A seah, one peck, one pint.
An ephah or bath, the tenth part of a homer, three pecks, three pints.
A lethec or half-homer, five ephahs, near three bushels.
A homer, ten ephahs, near six bushels.
A choenix, a quart.

III. Measures of Liquids.

A caph, .625 pint.
A log, .833 pint.
A cab, 3.333 pints.
A hin, one gallon, two pints.
A bath, the tenth part of a cor or homer, seven gallons and a half
A firkin, four gallons and a half.
A coron chomer, seventy-five gallons, five pints.

IV. Measures of Application.

A hair s-breadth, the forty-eighth part of an inch.
A finger, .912 inch.
A hand s-breadth, 3.648 inches.
A span, 10.944 inches.
A foot, twelve inches.
A cubit, one foot 9.888 inches.
A holy cubit, three feet, or a yard.
The king s cubit, a foot and nine inches.
A reed, six cubits and a hand s-breadth, or ten feet 11.328 inches.
A pace, five feet, and probably in some cases only a step, or two feet and a half.
A furlong, or the eighth part of a mile.
A mile, a thousand paces, one mile four hundred and three paces one foot.
A sabbath day s journey, seven hundred and twenty-nine paces three feet.

Note. The quantities, supposed to be contained in the preceding weights and measures, are by no means accurately ascertained ; some making them to be considerably more, and some less, than what are here stated. We have chiefly followed the calculation given in the Tables annexed to a small English Bible, printed at Edinburgh in the year 1748, by Adrain Watkins, printer to His Majesty. It is, however, of little consequence, whether they be correct in this particular or not; since the spiritual signification belonging to the different names both of the Jewish weights and measures, is not in the least affected by our ignorance of the exact quantities they represented, as compared with the weights and measures now in use. Gold and silver by weight served in ancient times for money instead of stamped coin.

In general it may be observed, that weights signify the states of a thing as to good, and measures the states of a thing as to truth : for gravity in the natural world corresponds to good in the spiritual world, and extension corresponds to truth. The reason of this is, that in heaven where correspondences originate, there is neither gravity nor extension, there being no space there such as belongs to nature ; and yet there is an appearance both of gravity and of extension, because there is an appearance of space, which appearance is forthe sake of distinguishing in a visible and sensible manner the different qualities and states of things in the spiritual world. In anopposite sense, weights are predicated of evil, and measures of falsity. Whence it follows that things good and true tend upwards, that is, to heaven and the Lord, who is called the Most High, because He is the inmost of all ; but things evil and false tend downwards, that is, to hell, which is said to be in the depths below, because it is in the outermost or extreme principles of life. A. C. 3104, 3405, 4482, 5658.

Again, weights represent the quantity of good in the church, or in an individual of the church; and measures represent the quality thereof, which is determined by the truth with which it is conjoined. A. C. 8533, 9603. Hence to weigh or measure any thing, when spiritually understood, is to explore and ascertain its quantity and quality as to good and truth. Ap. Ex. 629. A. R. 313, 486. A balance, or pair of scales, signifies the estimation of a thing as to truth and good. A. R. 313. Ap. Ex. 373.

Measures of different capacities signify the states of things as to truth, and also as to good, the one following as a consequence of the other. A. C. 8533, 9603.

Measures of dry things serving for food, such as an ephah, an omer, a homer, etc., with which wheat, barley, and flour were measured, signify goods ; and measures of liquids serving for drink, such as a bath, a hin, a cor, etc., signify truths. A. C. 8540.

In like manner measures of application, such as hand-breadths, spans, feet, cubits, reeds, paces, furlongs, miles, etc., have a similar signification ; the length of an object having more immediate reference to good, and its breadth to truth. A. R. 485, 904 to 910. Ap. Ex. 627. A. C. 9603.

To this account of the signification of weights and measures, which affords a general view of their application and use in the Sacred Scriptures, it will be sufficient to add such of the particular weights and measures as are of the most frequent occurrence ; by the help of which, and the examples that follow, it is presumed the reader will be enabled to discern many traits of divine wisdom displayed in the language of revelation, which entirely escape the notice of those who are unacquainted with its spiritual sense.

WEIGHTS.

A shekel, from its being the usual unit of value among the Jews, signifies the price or estimation of a thing according to quantity ; the price of what is holy ; the estimation of good and truth ; also truth itself derived from good : for being a weight both of silver and of gold, it is used to denote the value of both. A. C. 2959, 3104, 10221, 10222.

A shekel of the sanctuary, or a shekel of holiness, is so called, because it refers to truth and good from the Lord, which constitute the essential principle of sanctity in the church. A. C. 2959, 3104, 10221, 10222.

A shekel of twenty gerahs signifies the estimation of the good of remains. A. C. 2959, 10222.

Half a shekel signifies as much as is sufficient for use. And as a whole shekel consisted of twenty gerahs, the half-shekel, of ten gerahs, sometimes denotes all, because the number ten bears the same signifi cation, and further implies remains, which are the truths and goods treasured up in the interiors of man by the Lord. A. C. 3104, 10221.

A gerah or obolus involves the same signification, but not in so full a degree, as the shekel, of which it is the twentieth part, viz., truth from good. A. C. 2959, 10221.

A pound or a talent as money, signifies the knowledges of truth and good from the Word. Ap. Ex. 193, 675. A. C. 7770. Also the faculty of liberty and rationality, together with prudence, circum spection, judgment, etc. D. P. 210. Goods and truths from the Lord; the truths of faith; also remains. A. C. 5291.

A talent of pure gold denotes celestial good, from which, as from one single fountain, flow all spiritual things. A. C. 9574. A talent, as a weight either of silver or gold, signifies truth and good in great purity ; and in an opposite sense, falsity and evil of a most malignant quality. A. R. 714. Ap. Ex. 1026.

Lead, as a weight, signifies either good or evil in the exterior natural man : for as lead among the metals named in the Word, is of the most ignoble and inferior order, so it is used to denote, in a good sense, the lowest or most external natural good, and in an opposite sense the lowest or grossest kind of evil. Hence, a stone of lead, a weight of lead, or a talent of lead, signifies evil, and the false principle derived from evil. A. C. 8298, 8540.

A stone, when considered as a weight, and in a sense opposite to its genuine meaning, signifies the false principle from evil : for such is the nature of evil that it tends downwards, and causes the false principle with which it is conjoined, to descend like a heavy substance in the natural world, to the deep below in the spiritual world, that is, to hell. A. C. 8279. But falsity or error, if it be not derived from evil, has no such tendency of itself: and hence many who are in falsities as to doctrine, and yet in good as to life, are capable of being elevated, after instruction, into heaven. A. C. 8298.

MEASURES.

An omer, being the tenth part of an ephah, signifies as much of good as is sufficient for use ; for an omer, as well as an ephah, signifies good ; and as ten signifies fulness, so a tenth part denotes a sufficiency, also a little or few. A. C. 8468, 8533, 8540, 10136, 10262.

An ephah, being a measure of wheat, barley, and fine flour, and the tenth part of a homer, is predicated of good, and denotes the quantity thereof, that is, the quantity of reception, whether it be much or little. A. C. 8468, 8540, 10136, 10262. The ephah was usually divided into ten parts, by which number was signified much, all, and fulness. But in Ezek. xlv. 13, and xlvi. 14, the ephah is divided into six parts, by reason of the subject there treated of being the new temple, or spiritual kingdom of the Lord, in which the num bers 12, 6, and 3, are chiefly in use. A. C. 10262.

A homer containing ten ephahs, signifies fulness; and being a measure of wheat and barley, is therefore predicated of good. A. C. 8468, 8540, 10262. Ten homers, Num. xi. 32, signify too much, or superfluity. A. C. 8469.

A choenix, being a measure of wheat and barley among the Greeks, signifies the quality and degree of the estimation of good and truth from the Word. A. R. 314. Ap. Ex. 374.

A kin, being a measure of wine and oil, is predicated of truth, and denotes the quantity thereof, also the quantity or degree of conjunction. A. C. 8540, 10136, 10262. The hin was divided into four parts, to denote conjunction ; for such is the signification of the number four. The same is also signified by the oil, which was measured in the hin, and mixed with the fine flour in the meat-offerings ; the flour denoting reception, and the oil conjunction. A. C. 10262.

A cor, being a measure of liquids, and containing ten baths, is pred icated of truth in a state of fulness, and denotes the quantity thereof. A. C. 10262.

A bath, being a measure of liquids, is predicated of truth, and de notes the quantity thereof as being small or few. A. C. 8468, 8540, 10262.

Reeds, cubits, furlongs, and other measures of application, signify the states and qualities of things either with respect to good or truth, or the conjunction of both ; also the faculty, power and manner of exploring and discerning those states. A. R. 485, 904. Ap. Ex. 627. A. C. 9603.

EXAMPLES.

(1.) Ex. xvi. 16. "This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded ; Gather of it (manna) every man according to his eating : an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons, take ye every man for them which are in his tents."- By gathering manna, every man according to his eating, is signified reception and appropriation of the good of truth, according to the faculty or capacity of each individual : manna denotes the good of truth, or that good which results from a knowledge of, and obedience to, the divine laws. By the quantity gathered, viz., an omer for every man, according to the number of persons in the tents, is signified as much as is sufficient to supply the spiritual necessity of each, and promote the general good of society : an omer, which was the tenth part of an ephah, denotes as much as is sufficient for use. See A. C. 8467 to 8470.

(2.) Ex. xxix. 40. " And with the one lamb thou shalt offer a tenth-deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil ; and the fourth part of a kin of wine for a drink-offering."- The sacrifice of a lamb in the morning represented the removal of evils by the good of innocency from the Lord, and the implantation of good and truth in the internal man: the sacrifice of a lamb in the evening represented the same in the external man. A tenth-deal of flour mixed with beaten oil, signified spiritual good from a celestial origin, as much as is necessary for conjunction : a tenth-deal, or tenth of an ephah, denotes the quantity of good, or what is sufficient for use ; flour denotes truth from celestial good, which is the same as spiritual good ; oil denotes celestial good ; and the fourth part of a hin denotes what is sufficient for conjunction. So in like manner the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink-offering signifies as much of spiritual truth as is sufficient for conjunction : wine denotes spiritual truth ; a hin, the quantity of truth ; and the fourth part, like the number four, conjunction. See A. C. 10134 to 10139.

(3.) Ex. xxx. 12, 13. " When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel, after their number ; then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, when thou numberest them ; that there be no plague amongst them when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered : half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary, (a shekel is twenty gerahs,) a half-shekel shall be the offering to Jehovah."-By taking the sum of the children of Israel, or numbering them, is signified the orderly arrangement and disposition of all things relating to the church. By every man giving a ransom for his soul unto Jehovah, is signified purification or deliverance from evil by the truth of faith, and by an acknowledgment that all truths and goods are from the Lord. By half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanc tuary, are signified all things of truth from good ; the reason of which signification is, that, as the shekel consisted of twenty gerahs, so the half-shekel consisted of ten, and the number ten denotes all, likewise remains, which are the truths and goods received by man, and treasured up in his interiors by the Lord. The shekel itself denotes truth from good, and, considered as a weight, the quantity of each. It is called the shekel of the sanctuary or of holiness, because truth and good are holy, being derived from the Lord who alone is holy. The offering of half a shekel, therefore, to Jehovah, denotes that all things of the church are from Him. See A. C. 2959, 10216 to 10223.

(4.) Lev. xix. 35, 36. " Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in mete-yard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin shall ye have."- By the weights and measures here named, as well as by those mentioned in Ezek. xlv. 10 to 14, are signified rules of exploration and just judgment as to the state and quality of good and truth in the church. See Ap. Ex. 373, 629. A. R. 313, 486, 487. A. C. 8540.

(5.) Isa. v. 9, 10. " Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah." The subject here treated of is the vastation or desolation of the church. By many houses great and fair becoming desolate and without inhabitant, is signified that with the members of the church the affection of good and the intelligence of truth would perish: great is predicated of good and the affection of good ; and fair or beautiful is predicated of truth and the intelligence of truth. By ten acres of vineyard yielding only one bath, and the seed of a homer yielding only an epliah, is signified that there would be scarce any remains either of spiritual or of celestial things, which consist in faith and charity : ten acres denote fulness and much, the same being also signified by a homer; but a bath and an ephah, each being the tenth part of a homer, denote fewness and little; for according to the rule previously laid down, p. 469, when the number ten signifies much, a tenth part denotes little or few. See A. C. 576, 8468. Ap. Ex. 675.

(6.) Isa. xl. 12. " Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance/" The just arrangement and estimation of all things in heaven and the church, according to the quality of good and truth therein, is here described by measuring, spanning, and weighing in a balance. By the waters are signified truths; by the heavens, interior or spiritual truths and goods; by the dust of the earth, exterior or natural truths and goods, belong ing to heaven and the church ; by mountains, the goods of love ; by hills, the goods of charity ; and by measuring and weighing them is meant the just appreciation and arrangement thereof by the Lord, according to their respective qualities. See Ap. Ex. 373, 629. A. R. 486. A. C. 3104, 9603.

(7.) Ezek. xl. 2, 3, 5. " In the visions of God Jehovah brought me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south. And He brought me thither, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a meas uring-reed ; and he stood in the gate. And behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man s hand a measur ing-reed of six cubits long, by the cubit, and a hand-breadth; so he measured the breadth of the building one reed, and the height one reed" In this and the three following chapters is contained a description of the new temple seen by Ezekiel in spiritual vision, with the dimensions of its various parts, as of the wall, the gate, the porch, the threshold, the posts, the doors, the steps, the windows, the chambers, the court, the altar, etc., which are marked by the numbers of reeds, cubits and hand-breadths. By the building, house and temple, is signified the church ; by the gate and entrance, introductory truth ; by the interior of the temple, the things relating to the internal of the church ; and by the porch and court, the things relating to its external. The length, the breadth, and height of the various parts, denote the good and truth of the church, with the degrees of each : length being predicated of good, breadth of truth, and height of their degrees. That such is the spiritual signification of the dimensions of the house and temple, is plain from chap, xliii. 10, 11, where the prophet is ordered to "show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities, and that they may measure the pattern, and keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them" See Ap. Ex. 629. A. C. 9604.

(8.) Esek. xlvii. 3 to 5. " And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters ; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters ; the waters were to the knees : again he measured a thousand, and brought me through ; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass over : for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over." A description is here given of the manner in which intelligence, with the members of the church, increases by the reception of divine truth proceeding from the Lord, signified by the waters issuing out from under the threshold of the house towards the east, and coming down from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar, as mentioned in ver. 1. By the east is signified love to the Lord, because the east in heaven is where the Lord appears as a sun ; and the right side from thence, which is called the south, is where divine truth is received in its greatest light, on which account the waters are said to come on the south side of the altar. By the waters which reached to the ankles, is signified intelligence such as is possessed by the sensual and natural man ; for the ankles in the human body denote the sensual and natural principle. By the waters which reached to the knees, is signified intelligence such as is possessed by the spiritual-natural principle. By the waters which reached to the loins, is signified intelligence such as is possessed by the spiritual man ; for the loins denote the marriage of truth and good, which constitutes the spiritual principle. By the waters which could not be passed over, is signified the intelligence of the celestial man, properly called wisdom, which being ineffable and far above the comprehension of the natural man, is therefore compared to a river that could not be passed over, whose waters also were waters to swim in. The measuring with a line from place to place a thousand cubits, signifies exploration and designation of the different qualities of divine truth in heaven and in the church, according to its various reception by angels and men. See Ap. Ex. 629.

(9.) Hosea iii. 2. " So I bought her (the adulteress) for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer of barley and a half-homer of barley." By the woman an adulteress is here meant the house of Israel who, by their vain traditions and corrupt doctrines, had falsified every truth and adulterated every good contained in the Word. By her being bought for fifteen pieces of silver, and for a homer and halfhomer of barley, is signified that the Israelitish church possessed so little of truth and of good, that its estimation, even taken at the full, was of little or no intrinsic value : the fifteen pieces of silver are predicated of truth, and denote the deficiency thereof both of quantity and quality : the same is also signified by the homer and half-homer of barley, which are predicated of good. See Ap. Ex. 374. A. R. 315. A. C. 8468.

(10.) Zech. ii. 1, 2. "I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold, a man with a measuring-line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou ? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof." Jerusalem here signifies the new church of the Lord ; and by measuring it, to see its breadth and length, is signified to explore and hence to ascertain the quality and quantity of truth and good appertaining to its doctrine : to measure with a measuring-line, is to explore and discover the quality and quantity : its breadth denotes the truth of doctrine ; and its length the good of love. See Ap. Ex. 629. A. C. 9603.

(11.) Zech. v. 5 to 8. " Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it ? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead : and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness ; and he cast it into the midst of the ephah, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof."- In this passage is described the profanation which took place in the church, of which the prophet speaks. By the ephah is signified good ; by the woman evil, or wickedness, as expressly stated in the words of the text ; and by the weight, talent, or stone of lead upon the mouth of the ephah, is signified the false principle derived from evil, which closes up and infests the good, and thus by a kind of mixture with good produces a state of profanation. See A. C. 8540.

(12.) Dan. v. 25 to 29. "And this is the writing that was written, Mene mene, tekel upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing ; Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians."- The subject here treated of, in the spiritual sense, is the consummation or end of the church, and the profanation of the holy things of the Word, represented by the vessels of gold and silver, out of which the king of Babylon, his princes, and wives and concubines drank, in praise of false gods. By the writing on the wall is signified that the church was entirely destroyed. By mene mene, or numbered numbered, is signified an exploration of the quality of the church both as to truth and good, more particularly as to truth. By tekel, or thou art weighed in the balances, is signified the estimation of the quality of good, which was found and adjudged to be adulterated and profaned. By peres is signified dissipation, extermination, and separation from every good and truth of the church : literally, upharsin signifies and they divide; the letter u, as a conjunction prefixed to the word, denoting and; and pharsin, a variation of the word peres, or paras, being the participle of the present tense, plural number, denoting they divide or are dividing, implying that innumerable evil and false principles concurred in dissipating and destroying every thing good and true belonging to the church. See A. C. 3104, 9093, 10217. A. R. 313, 316. Ap. Ex. 373, 453.

(13.) Apoc. xi. 1. "And there was given me a reed like unto arod : and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein."- By a reed like unto a rod or staff, is here signified the power of exploring and discerning the quality of the church and its worship; which power or capacity being exercised by man apparently of himself, yet under an acknowledgment that it is in reality from the Lord, is therefore
first compared to a reed in reference to the weakness or inability of man, and afterwards to a rod or staff in reference to the power of divine truth from the Lord. By rising and measuring the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein, is signified seeing, knowing, and examining the state of the church in heaven in respect to the truth of doctrine, the good of love, and worship thence derived : to measure is to know and examine the quality of a thing ; the temple of God is predicated of the truth of doctrine ; the altar, of the good of love : and they that worship therein, when considered abstractly from persons, of worship itself. See A. E,. 485, 486. A p. Ex. 627 to 629.

(14.) Apoc. xxi. 15 to 17. "And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof and the wall thereof. And the city lieth four-square, and the length is as large as the breadth : and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs : the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel."-

Here again a reed signifies the power or faculty of understanding and knowing : and as this power is derived from the good of love, and given by the Lord to those who are in such good, which is signified by gold, therefore the reed is described as a golden reed. By measur ing the city, the gates and the wall of the city, which is the holy Jerusalem, is signified the application of the above faculty in examining and investigating, with a view to understand and know the quality and character of the New Church as to its doctrine, its introductory truths, and the literal sense of the Word, from which its doctrine is derived ; the city denotes the New Church, as to doctrine ; the gates, introductory truths, or the knowledges of truth and good ; and the wall, the Word in its literal sense, serving as a defence and security against all spiritual enemies. By the city being four-square, or so situated as to front all the four quarters, is signified an equal or just respect to good and truth, and all the states of life thence derived. The same is signified by the length being equal to the breadth, 12000 furlongs; the length or longitude from east to west being predicated of good, and the breadth or latitude from south to north being predicated of truth ; while the height or altitude denotes the degrees of both in their various relations and proportions: 12000 furlongs denote all the goods and truths belonging to the church. The dimensions of the wall, 144 cubits, show the quality of the Word in its literal sense, as containing all the goods and truths of heaven and the church : cubits, like other measures, denote the quality of a thing ; and the number 144, like the number 12000, and 12, from which both arise, denotes all. The measure is said to be the measure of a man, that is, of an angel, because the church on earth consisting of men, and the church in heaven consisting of angels, are regarded by the Lord as one church, being formed of the same principles of divine love and divine wisdom, though received in different degrees by each respectively. By a man is signified intelligence and wisdom derived from the Word, whether it be in an individual or in a society ; and by an angel is signified divine truth, also a heavenly society, and an individual of such a society, receptive of divine truth from the Lord, who is the sole fountain thereof. Thus it appears that the dimensions of the New Jerusalem are not to be regarded as the dimensions of a great city, according to the natural idea suggested by the terms used, but that they are to be wholly referred to the spiritual things of heaven and the church, particularly to the doctrine of divine truth and good derived from the Word, and now revealed by the Lord through the instrumentality of a chosen servant. See A. R. 904 to 910. Ap. Ex. 629. A. C. 9603.

Conclusion.

From the preceding view, limited and imperfect as it is, of the spiritual signification of numbers, weights and measures in the Word throughout, it is evident that without a knowledge of this most ancient science, according to which the things relating to heaven and the church are constantly described, the true and genuine sense of divine revelation must in a great measure remain buried in obscurity. Many passages indeed are to be found, especially in the historical parts both of the Old and the New Testament, in which the necessity of having recourse to a spiritual sense distinct from that of the letter, is not so obvious as it is in some which have been brought forward in this small treatise. Yet when we consider that the Word was dictated by Jehovah himself, that it descended through all the heavens to man, and consequently that in its origin it is holy and divine ; then it must be acknowledged that it contains an internal as well as an external sense, and that the former pervades every part of the latter. If so, it follows that numbers, weights and measures, as expressed in the literal sense, must in all cases form the basis of another more interior sense, which may be regarded as wine in comparison with water, John ii. 7 to 10 ; as a soul in comparison with its body of flesh, John vi. 63; or as heaven itself in comparison with the earth, Isa. Iv. 9.