9255. 'When you meet your enemy's ox or his ass going astray' means unauthentic good and unauthentic truth with those who are outside the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'enemy' as those outside the Church, who are the subject below; from the meaning of 'ox' as the external man's good, and from the meaning of 'ass' as the external man's truth, both dealt with in 2781, 9135 - but unauthentic good and truth, such as exists with those outside the Church, who are meant by 'enemy'. The reason why those outside the Church are meant by 'enemy' is that they have a different idea of what the good and truth of faith are, because they do not possess the Word and therefore do not know anything about the Lord or about Christian faith and charity that come from the Lord alone. Consequently their truth of faith is not authentic, neither is their good of charity. Therefore also they do not live together in the next life with those who belong to the Church but are separated from them. All in the next life are formed into communities according to their good and the truth flowing from it, for these are what compose spiritual life and link people together.

[2] However, those in heaven do not regard people outside the Church as enemies; rather they teach them and bring them to Christian good, which is also welcomed by those of them who in the world have led dutiful and obedient lives, in some kind of charity towards one another that is prescribed by their religion. But the sense of the letter of the Word calls them 'enemies' on account of their lack of spiritual agreement, which is, as has been stated, their different idea of what the truth of faith and the good of charity are. See what has been shown from experience regarding the state and condition in the next life of nations outside the Church, in 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 4190, 4197. The requirement to regard these very people as friends, and to teach and correct them, is the meaning in the internal sense of the words you shall surely bring it back, which the next paragraph deals with.

[3] Only this needs to be added here, that in the Word various kinds of beasts mean affections and inclinations such as the human being shares in common with beasts, and in the spiritual sense affections for goodness and truth, internal and external, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 9090; and that beasts were therefore used in sacrifices in accordance with their spiritual meaning, 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519. Consequently this law of personal conduct stating that an enemy's oxen and asses going astray should be brought back to him means in the spiritual sense such things as are characteristic of the Church, thus such as are feelings of mutual love or charity towards those whose ideas are different from the Church's truths.

9090. 'And when a man's ox inflicts a blow on [his] companion's ox' means two truths with dissimilar affections, and the affection with one injures that with the other. This is clear from the meaning of 'inflicting a blow' as injuring truth, dealt with above in 9057; from the meaning of 'an ox' as an affection for good, and in the contrary sense an affection for evil in the natural, also dealt with above, in 9065; and from the meaning of 'a man' as truth, dealt with in 9034, so that 'man' and 'companion' mean two truths. The reason why dissimilar affections are what are meant is that they are oxen, by which affections are meant, that injure each other. For things which are dissimilar injure each other, but not those which are not dissimilar.

[2] Those unacquainted with the nature of representatives and correspondences may be astonished to learn that 'an ox', being a beast, can mean an affection for good or an affection for evil present with a person But let them know that all beasts mean such things as belong to some affection or inclination. This is very well known in the spiritual world, for various kinds of beasts frequently make their appearance there, such as oxen' young bulls, cows, horses, mules, asses, sheep, she-goats, kids, and lambs; also evil beasts, such as tigers, panthers, bears, dogs, pigs, and serpents, as well as beasts seen nowhere on our planet; and in addition various kinds of birds.

[3] The idea that such creatures make their appearance there lies far beyond the belief of those who suppose that nothing exists apart from what they see with their bodily eyes. But these same people also refuse to believe in the existence of spirits or angels, even more so in the idea that they appear to themselves as persons, see one another, talk to one another, and touch one another. Their incredulity is due to their thinking so much on the level of the senses and the body that they suppose their bodies alone are living. This is why, as has been stated, the idea of such creatures lies far beyond their belief. But I have not only seen such sights thousands of times; I have also been told where the creatures I have seen come from, and what they are signs of. I have also accordingly been told that, when presented visually in animal forms, affections for good in the natural appear as harmless oxen, and affections for evil as harmful oxen, and that all other affections are presented in the forms of other animals. So it is that different kinds of beasts are the signs of the various kinds of affections in a person to which they correspond. But regarding these matters see what has been shown already in 142, 143, 246, 714-716, 719, 1823, 2179, 2180, 2781, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3218, 3519, 5198, 7523.