588. Which can neither see nor hear nor walk, signifies in which and from which there is nothing of the understanding of truth or the perception of good, and thus nothing of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "to see," as being to understand truth (See above, n. 11, 260, 529); also from the signification of "to hear," as being to perceive and obey (See also above, n. 14, 249), and as being to have understanding to perceive, n. 529; also from the signification of "to walk," as being to live spiritually, and in reference to the Lord that it is life itself (See above, n. 97). From this it is clear that "not to see, to hear, or to walk," signifies that there is no understanding of truth, no perception of good, and thence no spiritual life; these are not in idols or from them, for "idols" signify the falsities of doctrine, of religion, and of worship, and such things are not in falsities, but in truths that are from good; in truths and from them is all understanding, all perception from the will of good, and consequently spiritual life. It is said "consequently," because spiritual life consists in the understanding of truth and in perception from the will of good; for truths are in the light of heaven, and this so much that the truths themselves give light in heaven, and this because the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes all light in the spiritual world, and that light gives all intelligence and wisdom to angels.

Now as truths themselves are of the light it follows that falsities are of no light, for they extinguish light, consequently falsities are called in the Word "darkness" (See above, n. 526); and as they are darkness, they are the shadow of spiritual death. But it is to be known that the falsities of evil constitute such darkness, not falsities that are not from evil. "To hear" signifies perception from the will of good, and thence obedience, because speech enters the ear at the same time with the sound, and the truths uttered enter the understanding and thence the thought, while sounds enter the will and thence the affection. That in the spiritual world sounds present and produce the affection which is of the will, and the words of the sound the thought which is of the understanding, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 236, 241, and above n. 323. From this it can be seen why "to hear" and "to hearken" also signify to obey, and the "ear" and "hearing" obedience.

4832. 'And Er, Judah's firstborn, was evil in the eyes of Jehovah' means that it was immersed in falsity springing from evil. This is clear from the representation of 'Er' and from the meaning of 'firstborn' as falsity of faith, dealt with just above in 4830. Evidence that this falsity was falsity springing from evil is given in what has been stated above in 4818. But with this son the falsity springing from evil was of such a nature that not even that which was representative of the Church could be established among any who would have been descended from him, and therefore it is said that 'he was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah caused him to die'. Among that whole nation - right from the start, and especially from Judah onwards - falsity springing from evil was present, that is, a false teaching that resulted from evil living, though that falsity was different with one son of Judah from what it was with another. Which of these could serve a purpose was foreseen, and this was not that existing with Er the firstborn; nor was it that with Onan the secondborn, but that existing with Shelah. Therefore those first two sons were destroyed, whereas this third was preserved. The existence among that whole nation, from when it first began, of falsity springing from evil is described plainly in Moses in the following words,

Self-corrupted; not his sons; the blemish is theirs; a perverse and crooked generation. When Jehovah saw, and rejected - with more than indignation - His sons and His daughters. And He said, I will hide My face from them; I will see what their posterity will be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faithfulness. I will add evils upon them, I will expend My arrows on them; they will be exhausted with famine, and consumed with burning coal, and with bitter destruction. They are a nation from whom counsel has perished, in whom there is no intelligence; from the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the ploughed fields of Gomorrah, their grapes are grapes of gall, their dusters are bitterness. The poison of dragons is their wine, and the cruel gall of asps. Is not this stored up with Me, sealed up in My treasures? The day of their destruction is near, and the things to come upon them are hastening on. Deuteronomy 32:5, 10, 20, 23-24, 28, 32-35.

In the internal sense these words describe falsity springing from evil which existed among that nation, and the fact that this falsity was rooted deeply within them.