313. 'And the one sitting upon it having a balance in his hand' signifies the evaluation of good and truth, what it was with these. By 'a balance in [his] hand' is signified the evaluation of truth and good; for all measures as well as weights in the Word signify the evaluation of the thing of which it treats. That measures and weights signify such things is plain from these things in Daniel:-
A writing appeared before Belshazzar the king of Babel, when he was drinking wine Out of the vessels of gold and silver taken away from the Jerusalem temple, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Perizin, that is, Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, Divided; the interpretation of which is this: Mene, God has numbered thy kingdom and finished it; Tekel, Thou hast been weighed in the balance and found wanting; Perez, the kingdom is divided, and given to the Mede and the Persian Dan. v 1, 2, 25-28.
By 'to drink out of the vessels of gold and silver in the Jerusalem temple' and at the same time 'to worship other gods' is signified the profanation of good and truth, as also by 'Babel'. By mene or to number is signified to get to know his quality as to truth; by 'tekel' or to weigh is signified to get to know his quality as to good; by 'perez' or to divide is signified to disperse. That the quality of truth and good is signified by measures and scales [of a balance] in the Word, is plain in Isaiah:-
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of a hand, and has levelled out the heavens with a span, and has embraced the dust of the earth in a third of a foot (trientalis), and weighed the mountains in a balance (fibra), and the hills in scales (lances)? Isa. xl 12;
and in the Apocalypse:-
The angel measured the wall of the Holy Jerusalem a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel Rev. xxi 17.