Arcana Coelestia # 9081
9081. 'If the ox strikes a male slave with its horn, or a female slave' means if the affection for evil destroys truth or good in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'a male slave' as truth in the natural, dealt with in 3019, 3020, 5305, 7998; from the meaning of 'a female slave' as an affection for truth there, dealt with in 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, 8993, 8994; and from the meaning of 'striking with the horn' as destroying. The words 'striking with the horn' in the Word refer to the destruction of falsity by the power of truth, and in the contrary sense to the destruction of truth by the power of falsity. They do so because 'a horn' means the power of truth that springs from good, or the power of falsity that springs from evil, 2832, as in Ezekiel,
You push with side and shoulder, and strike with your horns all the weak [sheep]. Ezekiel 34:21.
This refers to those who with all their force and power destroy the Church's truths and forms of good by means of fallacious reasonings based on sensory evidence, 'pushing with side and shoulder' meaning with all their force and power, 1085, 4931-4937. From this it is evident why the words 'striking with the horn' are used in Moses,
The firstborn of his cattle has honour, and his horns are unicorn horns. 1 With these he will strike the peoples together to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:17.
This occurs in Moses' prophetic utterance concerning Joseph, in which 'Joseph' in the internal sense means the Lord's Divine Spiritual, and in the representative sense His spiritual kingdom 'Unicorn horns' means forms of power received from the good and truth of faith; 'striking the peoples' means destroying falsities by means of truths; and 'to the ends of the earth' means on every side where the Church is. In David,
You Yourself are my King. O God; through You we will strike our enemies with the horn. Psalms 44:4-5.
'Striking enemies with the horn' again means destroying falsities by means of the power of the truth and good of faith. Who can fail to see that in these places the words 'striking with the horn' would not have been used, since the action is performed by human beings, but for the meaning of 'horn' as power?
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. i.e. horns that are high and powerful, like the horn of a unicorn
Isaiah 20
1
In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him, and he fought against Ashdod and took it;
2
at that time Yahweh spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, "Go, and loosen the sackcloth from off your waist, and take your shoes from off your feet." He did so, walking naked and barefoot.
3
Yahweh said, "As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder concerning Egypt and concerning Ethiopia,
4
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, and with buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
5
They will be dismayed and confounded, because of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
6
The inhabitants of this coast land will say in that day, 'Behold, this is our expectation, where we fled for help to be delivered from the king of Assyria. And we, how will we escape?'"
