580. For their power was in their mouth. ¹ - That these words signify that sensual thoughts and reasonings thence are very powerful with them, is evident from the signification of their power, which denotes to be powerful, in this case, to be very powerful; and from the signification of the mouth, which denotes sensual thought and reasoning thence, for the mouth, and the things pertaining to it, signify such things as pertain to the understanding and to thought and speech thence, because these correspond to the mouth. For all the organs which designated by one word are called the mouth, as the larynx, the glottis, the throat, the tongue, the palate, the lips, are organs serviceable to the understanding for expression and utterance; for this reason the mouth signifies thought, and reasoning thence. But because the man's thought is interior and exterior, or spiritual, natural, and sensual, therefore by the mouth is signified the thought of the man to whom the subject refers; in this case, sensual thought, because the subject treated of is the man who has become sensual through the falsities of evil. Sensual thought is the lowest of all, and is material, and corporeal. In such thought are all those who are in evils of life, and thence in falsities of doctrine, however learned and clever they may be supposed to be, and although they can arrange their falsities attractively, and clothe them in choice and eloquent language.

[2] That the mouth, from correspondence, thus in the spiritual sense, signifies thought, but in the natural sense, utterance, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in David:

"The mouth of the just meditateth wisdom" (Psalm 37:30).

The mouth here signifies thought from affection, for from that a man meditates wisdom, but not from the mouth and its speech.

In Luke, Jesus said:

"I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist" (21:15).

Here the mouth signifies speech from the understanding, thus thought from which man speaks.

So in Matthew:

"Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications (stupra), thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (15:11, 17-19).

Those things which enter into the mouth mean, in the sense of the letter, food of every kind, which, after having performed its use in the body, passes through the belly into the draught. But, in the spiritual sense, that which entereth into the mouth, means all things that enter into the thought from the memory, and also from the world, and these things also correspond to food. Those things that enter into the thought, and not at the same time into the will, do not defile a man, for the memory, and the thought therefrom, are to man only as it were the entrance to him, since the will is the man himself. Those things also which enter the thought and proceed no further, are cast out as it were through the belly into the draught. The belly, from correspondence, signifies the world of spirits, whence thoughts flow in with man, while the draught signifies hell.

[3] It must be observed, that man cannot be purified from evils, and the falsities thence, unless the unclean things that are in him come forth even into the thought, and are there seen, acknowledged, discerned, and rejected. From these things it is evident, that that which enters into the mouth, signifies, in the spiritual sense, that which enters into the thought from the memory and from the world; but that which comes out of the mouth, in the spiritual sense, signifies thought from the will, or from the love. For the heart, from which it comes out into the mouth, and from the mouth, signifies the will and love of man; and since the love and will constitute the whole man, for as is the love so is the man's quality, therefore those things which proceed therefrom into the mouth, and out of the mouth, make the man unclean. That these are evils of every kind, is evident from the things there enumerated. In this way is this saying of the Lord understood in the heavens. That the heart signifies the will and love, may be seen above (n. 167).

So in Isaiah:

"Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal from off the altar in his hand; and he touched my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; therefore thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated" (6:6, 7).

By one of the seraphim touching the mouth and lips of the prophet with a live coal from off the altar, is signified his interior purification, which is that of the understanding and will, and inauguration thence into the function of teaching. The live coal from off the altar signifies the Divine Love, from which is all purification, and the mouth and lips signify thought and affection, or what is the same thing, the understanding and the will, these being purified, a man is removed from iniquity and sin; it is therefore said, "therefore thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated." That iniquity is not taken away by the application of a live coal to the mouth and lips, must be evident to every one. That the things pertaining to the mouth correspond to things intellectual, because from them the voice and speech proceed, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 8068, 9384), That "from the mouth and from the heart," denotes from the understanding and the will; in the same (n. 3313, 8068).

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167. And all [the churches] shall know that I am he who searcheth the reins and hearts. That this signifies the acknowledgment, on the part of all those who belong to the church, that the Lord alone knows and explores the exteriors and interiors and the things pertaining to faith and love is evident from the signification of searching, when said of the Lord, as being that He alone knows and explores; and from the signification of the reins, as being the truths of faith, and their purification from falsities, concerning which we shall speak in what follows; and from the signification of hearts, as being the goods of love. The reason why the heart signifies the good of love is, that there are two things that reign in man, from which all the life of his body is derived - the heart and the lungs. And because all things in a man's body correspond to all the things in his mind, and there are also two things that reign there, the will and the understanding, therefore these two kingdoms of the mind correspond to the two kingdoms of the body - the will to the heart and its pulse, and the understanding to the lungs and their respiration; without this correspondence the body could not live, nor even a particle of it. Because the heart corresponds to the will, it also corresponds to the good of love; and as the lungs correspond to the understanding, they also correspond to the truths of faith. It is from this correspondence that the heart signifies love, and the soul (anima) signifies faith; hence the expression "from the heart and soul" is so often used in the Word, by which is meant from the love and faith. (This correspondence is much treated of in Arcana Coelestia, where the following particulars may be seen more fully explained, namely, that the heart in the Word signifies love, and because it signifies love, that it also signifies the will, n. 2930, 3313, 7542, 8910, 9050, 9113, 10336. That the heart corresponds to the things that pertain to man's love, and the lungs to the things that pertain to his faith, n. 3883-3896. That in heaven there is a pulse like that of the heart, and a respiration like that of the lungs, n. 3884, 3885, 3887. That the pulse of the heart there is according to the state of love, and the respiration of the lungs according to the state of faith, n. 3886-3889; that the influx of the heart into the lungs is circumstanced like the influx of good into truth, or of the will into the understanding and of love into faith, and that the communications and conjunctions are similar, n. 3884, 3887-3889, 9300, 9495. Concerning the influx of heaven into the heart and into the lungs, from experience, n. 3884. That from this correspondence in the Word, when it is said from the heart and from the soul, it signifies from the love and faith, n. 2930, 9050; that the conjunction of man's spirit with his body is by means of the respiration of the lungs and of the pulse of the heart, and that therefore when these cease, man's body dies, but his spirit lives, see the work, Heaven and Hell; and that when the pulse of the heart ceases, the spirit is separated, because the heart corresponds to love which is the vital heat, n.447, in that work. Many other things concerning that correspondence may be seen there, n. 95.) That the kidneys signify the truths of faith and the purification of them from falsities, is because the purification of the blood is performed in the kidneys; and by blood in the Word is signified truth, as may be seen, Arcana Coelestia. n. 4735, 9127. The same also is signified by the organ which purifies: also all purification from falsities is effected by means of truths.

It is therefore evident that by Jehovah, or the Lord, in the Word, searching the heart and reins is signified that He explores the goods of love and the truths of faith, and separates them from evils and falsities.

[2] This is signified by reins in the following places: in Jeremiah,

"Jehovah Zebaoth, judge of justice, proving the reins and the heart" (11:20).

Again:

"Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; thou art near in their mouth and far from their reins. Jehovah, thou shalt see me, and shalt prove my heart" (12:2, 3).

By being near in the mouth, and far from the reins is meant truth only in the memory, and thence in some of his thoughts when a man speaks, but not in the will and thence in act. Truth in the will and thence in act is that which separates and dissipates falsities; truth in the will and thence in act is to will and do what a man knows and thinks to be truth; this truth is what is specifically meant by reins.

[3] Again in the same prophet:

"I Jehovah search the heart, and prove the reins, even to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works" (17:10).

To search the heart is to purify good by separating evil from it; to prove the reins, is to purify truth by separating falsity from it. It is therefore said, "To give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his works"; ways denote the truths of faith, and the fruit of works denotes the goods of love. (That ways denote truths of faith, may be seen above, n. 97, and that the fruit of works denotes the goods of love, n. 98, 109, 116.)

[4] In the same:

"Jehovah Zebaoth, proving the just, seeing the reins and the heart" (20:12).

And in David:

"Establish the just for thou who triest the hearts and reins art a just God" (Psalms 7:9).

The just denote those who love to do what is good and true, whose truths and goods are purified by the Lord, which is signified by His seeing and trying the reins and the hearts.

In the same:

"Prove me, O Jehovah, and try me, explore my reins and my heart" (Psalms 26:2).

Because truths are separated from falsities and goods from evils by temptations, it is therefore said, try me. In the same:

"For my heart was embittered and I am pricked in my reins. But I am foolish, and I do not know" (Psalms 73:21, 22).

The infestation of good by evil and of truth by falsity, is described by these words.

In the same:

"Behold, thou desirest truth in the reins, and in the hidden part thou makest wisdom known to me" (Psalms 51:6).

Here reins are expressed by another word in the original tongue, which involves the separation both of falsities from truths and of evils from goods. It is therefore evident that the reins signify purification and separation.

[5] In the same:

"I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; nightly, also, do my reins chastise me" (Psalms 16:7).

Nights signify the state of man when falsities rise up; the combat in such cases of truths with them is signified by "my reins chastise me." In the same:

"Even the darkness doth not make darkness before thee, but the night is light as the day; as the darkness so is the light; for thou possessest my reins, my bone was not hid from thee when I was made in secret" (Psalms 139:12, 13, 15).

Falsities are signified by darkness and truths by light; to possess the reins, is to know the falsities and truths pertaining to man; hence it is said, "my bone was not hid from thee when I was made in secret," which signifies that no falsity that was made could be bid. (That darkness denotes falsities and light truths may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 126-140 and that bone signifies truth in the ultimate of order, and, in the opposite sense, falsity, in Arcana Coelestia 3812, 5560, 5565, 6592, 8005.)

[6] Because the reins signified truths purified from falsities, therefore in the sacrifices the fats and reins were alone offered up, as may be seen in Exodus 29:13; Leviticus 3:4, 10, 15; 4:9; and other places.

The reason why the fats and reins alone were offered upon the altar was, because the fats signified the goods of love, and the reins the truths of faith. (That fats or fatnesses signify the goods of love, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 353, 5943, 6409, 10033. That the reins signify the truths of faith examining, purifying, and rejecting from themselves falsities is from correspondence; for all parts of the body, even the most minute, have a correspondence, as may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell, where it is shown, under its proper article, that "there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man," n. 87-102; and concerning the kidneys, n.96, 97.) Unless it be known that there is such a correspondence, who could know why it is so often stated of Jehovah, or the Lord, in the Word, that He searches and tries the reins and the heart? (Concerning the correspondence of the kidneys, the ureters, and vesicles, see Arcana Coelestia 5380-5386.) The reason why to search the reins and the heart also signifies to explore the exteriors and interiors of man is, that truth is without, and good is within; and spiritual good, which in its essence is truth, and which is specifically signified by the reins, is exterior good: but celestial good, which is specifically signified by the heart, is interior good. (This is more evident from what is said and shown concerning, the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom in the work, Heaven and Hell 20-26.)