in the[1] singular number, sit, instead of the plural, sint. Love and faith in the internal man are like heat and light in the external-corporeal man, for which reason the former are represented by the latter. It is on this account that luminaries are said to be set in the expanse of heaven, or in the internal man, a great luminary in the will, and a less in the understanding: but they only appear in the will, and the understanding, like the light of the sun in its recipient objects; it is the Lord's mercy alone which affects the will with love, and the understanding with truth or faith.
31. That great luminaries signify love and faith, and are also called sun, moon, and stars, is evident from the prophets; as in Ezekiel: " When I shall put thee out, I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light: all the luminaries of the light of heaven will I make dark over thee; and set darkness upon thy land," (xxxii. 7, 8.) In this passage Pharaoh and the Egyptians are treated of, by whom are meant, in the Word, the sensual and scientific principles; and herein is described how by sensuals and scientifics they extinguished love and faith. So in Isaiah: "Behold the day of Jehovah cometh,—to lay the land desolate:—for the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine," (xiii. 9, 10.) Again, in Joel: "The day of Jehovah cometh,—a day of darkness and of thick darkness.—The earth trembleth before him, the heavens are moved: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining," (ii. 1, 2, 10.) Again, in Isaiah, speaking of the coming of the Lord, and the enlightening of the Gentiles,—consequently of a new church, and in particular of all who are in darkness, and receive light, and are regenerated: "Arise, to shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; and Jehovah shall arise upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy 'light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.—Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light," (lx. 1—3, 20.) So in David: "Jehovah by wisdom made the heavens;—he stretched out the earth above the waters; he made great luminaries ;— the sun to rule by day;—the moon and stars to rule by night," (Psalm cxxxvi. 5—9.) And again, "Praise ye him, sun and moon; praise him, all ye stars of light; praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that are above the heavens," (Psalm cxlviii. 3, 4.) In all these passages, luminaries signify
- ↑ The distinction of number here remarked is very obvious in the original, but cannot be expressed in our language, inasmuch as the expression, "Let there be" is applicable alike to a single thing, or to a multitude
