2761. The fact that a white horse stands for understanding the Word's inner depths (or to put it another way, its inner meaning) can be seen from the symbolism of a horse as something related to the intellect. The prophetic parts of the Word often mention a horse or rider, but so far no one has recognized that a horse symbolizes something connected with the intellect, while a rider symbolizes an intelligent person. In the prophecy of Jacob (who by then was Israel) concerning Dan, for example:
Dan is a snake on the path, a darting serpent on the track, biting the horse's heels, and its rider will fall off behind. Your salvation I await, Jehovah. (Genesis 49:17, 18)
A snake means a person who makes deductions about divine secrets on the basis of sensory and secular knowledge (see §195). A path or track means truth (627, 2333). A heel means whatever is lowest on the earthly level (259). A horse means understanding the Word, while a rider means a teacher. It is clear, then, what the prophecy means: people who reason about religious truth on the basis of sensory and secular knowledge cling to nothing more than the very lowest levels of the physical world. As a result they believe nothing, which is "falling off the back," and that is why the passage adds, "Your salvation I await, Jehovah." [2] In Habakkuk:
God, you ride on your horses; your chariots are salvation. You made your horses tread in the sea. (Habakkuk 3:8, 15)
The horses stand for divine truth in the Word; the chariots, for teachings drawn from it; and the sea, for religious knowledge (§§28, 2120). All of these have to do with an understanding of the Word, given by God, so it says, "You made your horses tread in the sea." Here God is described as having horses, as he was above in Revelation, but he cannot be said to have horses unless they symbolize something like this. [3] In David:
Sing to God; make music to his name! Exalt the one riding on the clouds by his name, Jah! (Psalms 68:4)
Riding on clouds stands for understanding the depths, or inner meaning, of the Word. A cloud is the literal meaning of the Word, which holds an inner meaning. (See the preface to Genesis 18, which explains what it means to say that the Lord will come in the clouds of the heavens with strength and glory.) [4] In the same author:
Jehovah bent the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet, and he rode upon a guardian being. (Psalms 18:9, 10)
The darkness here takes the place of the clouds. Riding on the guardian being stands for the Lord's providence, which holds us back from prying into the religious mysteries in the Word on our own (§308). In Zechariah:
On that day, "Holiness to Jehovah" will be on the horse bells. (Zechariah 14:20)
The horse bells stand for understanding the Word's spiritual contents, which are holy. [5] In Jeremiah:
Through the gates of this city will enter monarchs and chieftains, sitting on David's throne, riding in a chariot and on horses, they and their chieftains, [each] a man of Judah, and residents of Jerusalem; and this city will be inhabited forever. (Jeremiah 17:25, 26; 22:4)
The city Jerusalem stands for the Lord's spiritual kingdom and church. Monarchs stand for truth (§§1672, 2015, 2069); chieftains, for the main things truth commands of us (1482, 2089). David stands for the Lord (1888). A man of Judah and residents of Jerusalem stand for people committed to doing good out of love, charity, and faith (2268, 2451, 2712). Riding a chariot and horses, then, stands for learning true theology from a deep understanding of the Word. [6] In Isaiah:
Then you will take pleasure in Jehovah, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth and cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob. (Isaiah 58:14)
Riding on the heights of the earth stands for intelligence. In David:
A love song: Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty man ([it is] your glory and finery), and in your finery advance; ride on the word of truth and gentle justice, and your right hand will teach you marvelous things. (Psalms 45: heading, 3, 4)
Riding on the word of truth plainly stands for an intelligent grasp of truth, while riding on the word of gentle justice stands for a wise understanding of goodness. [7] In Zechariah:
"On that day," says Jehovah, "I will strike every horse with bewilderment, and the one riding it, with insanity. And on the house of Judah I will open my eyes, and every horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness." (Zechariah 12:4, 5)
Here too a horse clearly stands for the intellect, which was to be struck with bewilderment and blindness, while the rider stands for an intelligent person, who was to be struck with insanity. In Hosea:
Remove all wickedness and accept the good, and we will repay you with the young oxen of our lips. Assyria will not save us; on a horse we will not ride; and we will no longer say "Our God!" to the work of our hands. (Hosea 14:2, 3)
Assyria stands for rationalization (§§119, 1186). The horse stands for intellectual arrogance.
Horses come up in many other places, too.
