9163. 'And it dies or is broken' means loss or harm. This is clear from the meaning of 'dying' as being wiped out and lost; and from the meaning of 'being broken' as suffering harm. In the Word 'a break' and 'being broken' mean being dispersed or else suffering harm. This has its origin in the spiritual world, where all things without exception are joined together, all according to the way in which God's truth coming from the Lord is received by them, and so according to the way in which the order imposed on every single thing by God's truth emanating from the Lord is received by them, 8700, 8988. Therefore also the truths residing with a person are connected to one another according to the way in which they are received within good; and the truths interconnected in this way make a single whole. Consequently when these as a whole are broken, the truths together with the good are dispersed; but when they are partially broken, the truths that are there are dispersed. For when they exist in connection with one another, they depend on one another for their existence, but when they are broken they pull away from one another. So it is that in the Word 'being broken' means being dispersed, as is also meant by 'being divided', 9093, or else it means suffering harm.
[2] That is to say, being dispersed is meant when the whole is broken, but suffering harm when part is broken, as is evident from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,
Many among them will trip, and fall, and be broken. Isaiah 8:15; 28:13.
'Tripping' stands for stumbling and as a consequence sliding from truths into falsities; 'falling and being broken' stands for being dispersed, dispersed as a whole in this instance. In Ezekiel,
Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, I will break [both] his arms, the strong one and the broken one. Ezekiel 30:22.
'Pharaoh king of Egypt' stands for known facts which pervert and destroy the truths and forms of the good of faith, 6651, 6679, 6683, 6692. 'Breaking the arms' stands for dispersing the powerfulness of those facts and so dispersing the facts themselves, 4932. 'The strong one and the broken one' stands for those which have not suffered harm and offer resistance, and those which have suffered harm and offer no resistance.
[3] In Luke,
It is written, The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. Whoever falls onto that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind [him] to powder. Luke 20:17-18.
'The stone' stands for the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, 6426. Since 'being broken' refers to truths that come from Him, it stands for being dispersed and so destroyed. This happens to the things that compose spiritual life, as well as to the truths, and occurs among people who deny the Lord and refuse to accept truths that come from Him, these people being the ones who reject the stone. In Jeremiah,
Bring on them the day of evil, break [them] with doubled breaking. Jeremiah 17:18.
'Breaking with doubled breaking' stands for destroying completely.
[4] In Isaiah,
I have settled myself down until the morning. Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones. From day until night You will make an end of me. Isaiah 38:13.
In Jeremiah,
He has aged my flesh and my skin, and broken my bones. Lamentations 3:4.
In Moses,
You shall not take out of the house any of the flesh of the Passover lamb, nor break a bone of it. Exodus 12:46.
'Breaking the bones' means destroying the truths from God that exist on the last and lowest level of order, truths on which more internal truths and forms of good rest and by means of which these are supported. If the truths on the lowest level are destroyed, the ones built on top of them also fall to the ground. Truths on the lowest level are truths belonging to the literal sense of the Word, which hold within themselves truths belonging to the internal sense and which those in the internal sense rest on like pillars on their plinths. For the meaning of 'bones' as truths, see 3812, 6592, 8005. All this shows what was represented and meant by the following things said about the Lord in John,
They came to Jesus. When they saw that He was dead they did not break His legs. This was done in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, You shall not break a bone of His. John 19:33, 36.
The reason for this was that He was Divine Truth itself both on the first and on the last levels of order.
[5] In Isaiah,
Jehovah will bind up the break of His people, 1
and will heal the wound of their stroke. Isaiah 30:26.
In Jeremiah,
From the prophet even to the priest, everyone deals falsely; 2
and they heal what is broken in My people with something that is no good. 3
Jeremiah 6:13-14.
In the same prophet,
Because the daughter of My people is broken 4
I am broken, I am dressed in black. Jeremiah 8:21.
In David,
You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it to pieces; heal its breaks. Psalms 60:2.
In Zechariah,
I will raise up a shepherd in the land; he will not heal one that is broken, he will not support one that is standing. Zechariah 11:16.
In Nahum,
There is no scar for your break; 5
your stroke is severe. 6
Nahum 3:19.
In these places 'break' means harm done to the truths and forms of the good of faith, thus harm done to the Church, while 'healing' means making amends and undertaking restoration. Something similar was meant by the regulation which prevented a man with a broken foot or a broken hand from approaching and offering the bread of God, Leviticus 21:17, 19, and by that which prevented what was broken from being offered to Jehovah on the altar, Leviticus 22:22, for 'what was broken' meant that which had been destroyed. That which has suffered harm is also meant by 'a breach', as in Isaiah,
You saw that the breaches of the city 7
of David were very many. Isaiah 22:9.
And in Amos,
On that day I will raise up the tent of David that is fallen down, and I will close up its breaches; I will restore its destroyed places, and I will build them as in the days of old. Amos 9:11.
'The city 7
of David' and 'the tent of David' stand for the Lord's Church, for 'David' in the prophetical part of the Word is the Lord, 1888.
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