9075. 'And also its owner shall die' means damnation of the internal man. This is clear from the meaning of 'the owner of the ox' as the internal man, dealt with above in 9069; and from the meaning of 'dying' as damnation, also dealt with above, in 9008. The reason why an ox was to be stoned and its owner to die if he knew that the ox was accustomed to gore, yet did not keep it in, lies with the spiritual meaning of this judgement or law, which is this: A person who is aware of an evil in himself and does not restrain it is guilty; for he approves it and in so doing snuffs out the light of truth, and along with it he crushes the seed of a belief in the truth the moment it is implanted. And when this has been snuffed out good from the Lord is not received. As a result the internal man cannot be opened and consequently endowed with spiritual life, which is the life of the truth and good of faith. When this is a person's state he leads a natural life, which is that of the external man. But this life without spiritual life is dead, the result of which is damnation, 7494.