572. That they should kill the third part of men, signifies of depriving themselves of all understanding of truth, and thus of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "to kill," as being to deprive of spiritual life (See above, n. 547); and from the signification of "men," as being the understanding of truth (See also above, n. 546, 547); "the third part," in reference to truths, means all (See above, n. 506); so here "to kill the third part of men" signifies the deprivation of all understanding of truth. It means to deprive themselves, because those who become sensual through evils of life and falsities of doctrine deprive ¹ themselves, by reasonings from fallacies, of the understanding of truth, but not others, except such as are sensual. They thus deprive themselves of spiritual life, because man has spiritual life through his understanding, for he becomes a spiritual man in the measure in which his understanding is opened and permits itself to be enlightened by means of truths. But it is by means of truths from good that the understanding is opened, not by means of truths without good; for man thinks truth so far as he lives in the good of love and charity. Truth indeed is the form of good, and all good with man is of his will, and all truth is of his understanding; therefore the good of the will presents its form in the understanding, and the form itself is thought from the understanding which is from the will.

Poznámky pod čarou:

546. But the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads, signifies but only to the understanding of truth and the perception of good in those who are not in truths from good from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "man," as being the affection of truth, and intelligence and wisdom therefrom (See above, n. 280), here the understanding of truth and the perception of good (of which presently); also from the signification of "having the seal of God on their foreheads," as being to be in truths from good from the Lord (See above, n. 427).

[2] "Man" signifies the understanding of truth and the perception of good, because it is by virtue of these that man is man, therefore when "man" is mentioned in the Word it means in the spiritual sense that by virtue of which man is man, for this is his spiritual [part]. Man has two faculties of which his whole life is made up, namely, understanding and will; therefore such as is the quality of his understanding and will such is the man. If he has the understanding of truth and the will of good he is truly a man, for truth and good are from the Lord, and it is from the Lord alone that man is man (as can be seen from what has been shown in the work on Heaven and Hell 59-102). But if he has not the understanding of truth and the will of good, but falsity in the place of truth and evil in the place of good, he is still called a man, yet he is not a man except from this alone, that he has the faculty of understanding truth and perceiving good (of which in the following article). From this it can be seen that in the Word by "men" such things as constitute them men are meant, and here the understanding of truth and the perception of good.

[3] That the understanding of truth and the perception of good are here meant by "men" can be seen from its being said that the locusts might "hurt men," but not "the grass of the earth, nor the green thing, nor the trees;" and a "locust" signifies the ultimate of man's life which is called the sensual; and when this, while man is reading or listening to the Word, is in the persuasion of falsity, it still does not hurt or do harm to anything of the Word in the sense of its letter, for this sense is for the sensual-natural man; he believes it, although he applies it to confirm his falsities; but it does hurt and do harm to the understanding of truth and the perception of good; for the sensual man is unable to raise his thought above the sense of the letter of the Word, and if he tries to do so he either falls into falsity or his persuasive faith respecting the Word perishes. From this it can now be known what is meant by these words, that the locusts should "not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but those men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads."