of living water, which were to flow from the belly, are divine truths; hence it is manifest that the spirit whom they were to receive, who is also called the holy spirit, is life from the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, which life is called, as was just now said, the life of faith and of love, and is the very essential spiritual and celestial life appertaining to man; the reason why it is said that the HOLY SPIRIT was not yet, be cause JESUS was not yet glorified, is, because the Lord, when He was in the world, himself taught divine truth, but when He was glorified, as was the case after the resurrection, He taught it by angels and spirits; that holy principle, which proceeds from the Lord, and flows in by angels and spirits with man, whether manifestly or not manifestly, is the holy spirit; for the divine truth proceeding from the Lord is what is called holy in the Word. A. C. 9818.

Verse 39, latter part. For the holy spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. That the holy spirit is the divine truth which proceeds from the divine human [principle] of the Lord, and not any spirit or any spirits from eternity, is evident from the Lord's words in the above passage, viz. that the holy spirit was not yet; also from this consideration that the spirit himself cannot proceed, but the holy [principle] of the spirit, that is, the holy [principle] which proceeds from the Lord, and which the spirit utters. From these considerations it now follows, that in the Lord the whole Trinity is perfect, viz. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and thus that there is one God, but not three, who, being distinct as to persons, are said to constitute one divine Being. A. C. 6993.

In the Word the Lord is called Jehovah as to divine good, for divine good is the essential divine [principle] itself, and the Lord is called the Son of God as to divine truth, for divine truth proceeds from divine good, as a son from a father, and is likewise said to be born: How this case is, it may be expedient further to explain: When the Lord was in the world, He made His human [principle] divine truth, and at that time called divine good, which is Jehovah, His Father, since, as was said, divine truth proceeds and is born from divine good; but after that the Lord fully glorified himself, which was effected when He sustained the last of temptation on the cross, He then made also His human [principle] divine good, that is, Jehovah, and from it proceeded essential divine truth by virtue of His divine human [principle]: This divine truth is what is called the holy spirit, and is the holy [principle] which proceeds from the divine human [principle]; hence it is evident what is meant by the Lord's words in John, The holy spirit was not yet, because

r

Jesus was not yet glorified, vii. 39. A. C. 7499. See also A. C. 8724. Treatise on the Lord, 51.

It deserves well to be noted, that in the Word of the Old Testament no mention is any where made of the holy spirit, but only of the spirit of holiness in three passages, once in David; Psalm li. 13, and twice in Isaiah, chap. lxii. 10, 11. But in the Word of the New Testament, both in the Evangelists, and in the Acts of the Apostles, and in their Epistles, it is mentioned frequently; the reason is, because the holy spirit then first was, when the Lord came into the world, for it proceeded by virtue of Him from the Father; for the Lord ALONE IS HOLY, Apoc. xv. 4; wherefore also it is said by the angel Gabriel to the mother Mary, THE HOLY [Thing] which shall be born of thee, Luke i. 35. The reason why it is said, The holy spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified, when yet it is before said, that the holy spirit filled Elizabeth, Luke i. 41, also Zachariah, Luke i. 67, also Simeon, Luke ii. 25, was, because the spirit of Jehovah the Father filled them, which was called the holy spirit on account of the Lord, who was already in the world. This is the reason why in the Word of the Old Testament it is no where said, that the prophets spake from the holy spirit, but from Jehovah; for it is every where said, JEHOVAH SPAKE TO ME, THE WORD FROM JEHOVAH WAS MADE TO ME, JEHOVAH SAID, THE SAYING OF JE HOVAH. T. C. R. 158. See also Ap. Ex. 748.

Verse 48. Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him? It is a common and known thing, that the learned have less belief in a life after death than the simple, and in general, that they see divine truths less than the simple; the reason is, because they consult scientifics, which they possess in greater abundance than others, from a negative principle, and thereby destroy in themselves intuition from a superior or interior principle, and when this is destroyed, they no longer see any thing from the light of heaven, but from the light of the world, for scientifics are in the light of the world, and if they are not illuminated by the light of heaven, they induce darkness, howsoever it appears otherwise to themselves. Hence it was that the simple believed in the Lord, but not the scribes and Pharisees, who were the learned in the Jewish nation, as is evident from these words in John, Many of the crowd heard the Word, and said, This is truly the prophet; others said, This is the Christ: The Pharisees answered them, Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him, vii. 40, 47, 48; and in Luke, Jesus said, I confess to thee Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid such things from the wise and intel

ligent, but hast revealed them to infants, x. 21, where infants denote the simple. A. C. 4760.

CHAPTER VII.

Translator's Notes and Observations.

VERSE 28. Then said JESUS in the temple, teaching and saying, &c. Two distinct terms are here applied in regard to the instruction imparted by the BLESSED JESUS, one called teaching, and the other saying, because the former has more reference to the truth which He delivered for the illumination of the human understanding, whilst the latter hath more reference to the divine love from which He delivered it, for the vi vification of the human will; thus both expressions combined have reference to the divine and heavenly marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth, which constitutes the essence and life of the holy Word.

Verse 28. Ye both know ME, and ye know whence I am. These are the words of the BLESSED JESUS to the unbelieving Jews, and yet in chap. viii. 14, He tells them, Ye know not whence I came, and at verse 19, Ye neither know me, nor my Father; if ye had known ME, ye would have known MY FATHER also. How now shall we reconcile this apparent contradiction in the words of the GREAT SAVIOUR, who first declares to the Jews, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am, and then at another time insists, Ye know not whence I came; ye neither know me, nor my Father? Perhaps the only satisfactory method of removing the difficulty, which the seeming disagreement in the above words is calculated to excite, is to have recourse to the principle of explanation, by which we reconcile another apparent contradiction which occurs where it is written, They seeing, see not, and hearing, they hear not, [Matt. xiii. 19]: For as there is an external seeing, which yet is not properly seeing, because it is not in connection with internal light; and as there is an external hearing, which yet is not properly hearing, because not connected with internal hearing, in like manner there may be an external knowing, which yet is not properly knowing, because separated from it's internal source, and thus it may be strictly true, that the Jews

both knew the BLESSED JESUS, and did not know Him; in other words, they had an external knowledge of Him, but not an internal one; they knew Him according to the letter of the sacred Scriptures, but they did not know Him according to the essential life and spirit of the holy volume.

Verse 35. Is He about to go to the dispersion of the Hellenists, and teach the Hellenists? This is a literal translation from the original Greek, which runs thus, μὴ εἰς τὴν διασπορὰν τῶν Ἑλλή νων μέλλει πορεύεσθαι, καὶ διδάσκειν τοὺς Ἕλληνας; on which passage the pious and learned Dr. Hammond makes the following observation: "The Jews were dispersed before this time in "several places among the Gentiles, some in Europe, others "in Asia. Those in Europe had their chief assembly at Alexandria, and there the Septuagint's translation of the Bible "into Greek was in use; and hence they are called diaoropa "EXvwv, the dispersion of the Hellenists. And of these there

were many also at Jerusalem, which used the Septuagint's "translation, being thus skilled in the Greek tongue: And "these, living not in Greece, are yet called 'EXλnvioral, [Acts "vi. 1], Hellenists, because they used the Greek language, and "the Septuagint's translation; whereas others are called 'Eßpaio, Hebrews." (See Paraphrase and Annotations on the Books of the New Testament).

JOHN.