Luke 11:50-51 Blood required of this generation

⁵⁰ That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

⁵¹ From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. -Luke 11:50-51 Bible, King James Version (KJV)

Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com

391.

[19] In Luke: The blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world shall be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, slain between the altar and the temple (Luke11:50-51 ). This does not mean that the blood of all the prophets from the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel, shall be required of the Jewish nation, for blood is not required from anyone but of him who sheds it; but these words mean that that nation had falsified all truth and adulterated all good; for "the blood of all the prophets, shed from the foundation of the world" signifies the falsification of all the truth there had ever been in the church; "blood" meaning falsification, "prophets" the truths of doctrine, and "from the foundation of the world," meaning all that there had ever been in the church; "the foundation of the world" meaning the establishment of the church. "From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, slain between the altar and the temple," signifies the adulteration of all good, and the consequent extinction of the worship of the Lord; "the blood of Abel unto Zachariah" means the adulteration of all good; "to be slain between the altar and the temple" means the extinction of all good and all truth in worship, for "altar" signifies worship from good, and "temple" the worship from truth, as has been said above; "between these" means where there is conjunction, and where there is not conjunction there is neither good nor truth. The altar was outside the tent of meeting, and outside the temple; therefore what was done between the two signified communication and conjunction (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 10001, 10025; and that "Abel" signifies the good of charity, n. 342, 374, 1179, 3325). It is evident that neither Abel nor Zachariah is meant here in the spiritual sense, since in the Word names signify things.