7729. 'Not a hoof shall be left behind' means that nothing at all of the truth from good shall be lacking. This is clear from the meaning of 'a hoof' as truth from good, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'not being left behind' as not to be lacking, that is, from worship of the Lord. In the internal sense nearest to the literal 'not a hoof shall be left behind' means that nothing whatever shall be lacking, for the hoof is common to all livestock. But in the sense more internal than that 'a hoof means truth in the last degree - that is, truth on the level of the senses, which is the lowest - and in the contrary sense falsity. The reason why 'a hoof' has this meaning is that 'foot' means the natural, and 'sole of the foot' the last and lowest level of the natural, 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5728, much the same being meant by 'hoof' since it is the sole of the foot in the case of livestock. And because the last and lowest level of the natural is meant by 'hoof' as it is by 'sole', truth forming that level of the natural is also meant; for when the natural is spoken of, truth and good are meant, or in the contrary sense falsity and evil. The natural is formed from these, and without them is devoid of any attributes.

[2] The fact that 'hoof', in particular that of a horse, means truth in the last and lowest degree, that is, truth on the level of the senses, and in the contrary sense falsity belonging to the same degree, becomes clear from the following places: In Isaiah,

Whose arrows are sharp, and all bows bent. His horses' hoofs are considered as flint, his wheels as the whirlwind. Isaiah 5:18.

This refers to a people laying waste. 'Arrows' means ideas fired from false doctrine, which they use to fight with, and 'bow' the doctrine itself, 2686, 2709. 'Horses' means powers of understanding, in this instance perverted ones, 2761, 2762, 3117, 5321, 6125, 6534. Which shows what 'the hoofs' of the horses means, namely falsity in the last and lowest degree.

[3] In Jeremiah,

. . . because of the sound of the beat of the hoofs of his mighty ones, on account of the noise of his chariot, the rumble of his wheels. Jeremiah 47:3

This refers to a people laying the Philistines waste. 'The beat of the hoofs of his mighty ones', that is, of horses, stands for open conflict of falsity against truth. 'Chariot' stands for teachings maintaining falsity, for 'a chariot' means teachings that maintain either truth or falsity, see 5321, 5945.

[4] In Ezekiel,

By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust will cover you; by reason of the noise of horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, your walls will be shaken; by means of the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets. Ezekiel 26:10-11.

This refers to Nebuchadnezzar laying Tyre waste. 'Horses' stands for perverted powers of understanding, as above, 'horsemen' for concepts that go with that kind of understanding, 6534. 'The wheels' that the chariots have stands for the falsities that are taught, 'chariot' being such teaching, as above, while 'streets' stands for truths, 2336. From this it is evident that 'the hoofs of horses' stands for falsities. If such were not meant, what would be the point of the statement 'by reason of the abundance of his horses their dust will cover you; by reason of the noise of horsemen, and wheels, and chariots, your walls will be shaken; by means of the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets'? Without an inner meaning would they be anything more than empty sounds? In actual fact every expression used in the Word, being Divine in origin, carries weight.

[5] In the same prophet,

They will devastate the pride of Egypt, in order that its multitude may be destroyed. And I will destroy all its beasts over many waters, in order that the foot of man (homo) may not disturb them any more, nor the hoof of beast disturb them. Then I will turn their waters into a depth, ¹ and cause their rivers to flow like oil. Ezekiel 32:12-14.

Nor are these details intelligible unless one knows what is meant by 'Egypt', by 'the foot of man', by 'the hoof of beast', by 'waters' over which beasts will be destroyed, which the foot of man and hoof of beast will disturb, and which will be turned into a depth. Waters and rivers of Egypt are collections of true factual knowledge, while 'the hoof of beast' is falsity on the last and lowest level of the natural that disturbs true factual knowledge.

[6] In Micah,

Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze, in order that you may crush many peoples. Micah 4:13.

Nor can anyone know without the internal sense what these things are, that is, unless he knows what is meant by 'threshing', 'daughter of Zion', 'horn that will be made like iron', 'hoof that will be made like bronze', both of which will be used 'to crush many peoples'. 'Daughter of Zion' is the celestial Church, 1362; 'horn' is the power of truth that springs from good, 2832; 'iron' is natural truth that will have the ability to destroy falsities, 425, 426; 'hoof' is truth that springs from good in the last and lowest degree; and 'bronze' is natural good that will have power over evils, 425, 1551.

[7] In Zechariah,

I will raise up a shepherd in the land; he will not go ² to [the sheep] that are to be cut off, he will not seek one tender in age, and he will not heal one that is maimed. ³ But he will eat the flesh of the fat, and tear apart their hoofs. Zechariah 11:16.

This refers to a stupid shepherd. 'Eating the flesh of the fat' stands for turning good into evil, 'tearing apart the hoofs' for turning truth into falsity.

[8] How superior in intelligence the ancients were to people at the present day becomes clear from the consideration that in regard to very many objects in the world they knew which realities in heaven they corresponded to, and therefore what their spiritual meanings were. This knowledge existed not only with those who belonged to the Church but also with those outside the Church, such as the people in Greece, the most ancient of whom employed images with spiritual meanings to depict those realities. But at the present day, since such meanings are entirely unknown, those images are called myths. Knowledge of such correspondences among the sages of old is evident from the fact that they spoke of a winged horse, which they called Pegasus, to depict the rise of intelligence and wisdom. With its hoof it broke open a fountain, at which there were nine virgins, and which was situated on a hill. For they knew that 'the horse' was a sign of the power of understanding, 'its wings' a sign of spirituality, 'its hoofs' a sign of the last and lowest degree of truth, which gave rise to intelligence, 'virgins' a sign of varieties of knowledge, 'hill' a sign of unanimity, and in the spiritual sense of charity, and so on with the rest. But such matters at the present day are some of those that are lost.

Poznámky pod čarou:

2897. The Word in the Ancient Church after the Flood however was derived from these people meant by 'Enoch'. The member of this Church, being spiritual and not celestial, knew but did not see with perception what was embodied in representatives and meaningful signs. And because these embodied Divine things they held out a use to members of that Church and were employed by them in their Divine worship, to the end that they might have a communication with heaven; for, as has been stated, all things in the world represent and mean such things as exist in heaven. Also the Word which they had was a written Word, consisting of Historical Sections and Prophetical Parts, like the Old Testament Word. But in course of time that Word came to be lost. The historical sections were called The Wars of Jehovah, and the prophetical parts The Utterances, as is clear in Moses, Numbers 21:14, 27, where they are quoted. The historical sections of their Word were written in the prophetical style and were for the most part made-up historical narratives, like those in Chapters 1-11 of Genesis, as is evident from the quotations of those historical narratives in Moses, where the following words occur,

Therefore it is said in The Book of The Wars of Jehovah, Waheb in Suphah, and the streams of Arnon, and the descent of the streams which runs down to the dwelling at Ar and leans to the border of Moab. Numbers 21:14-15.

The prophetical parts of their Word were written in a style similar to the prophetical parts of the Old Testament, as is also evident from the quotation of these in Moses, where the following words occur,

Therefore The Utterances (or The Utterers of Prophecies) say, Come to Heshbon the city of Sihon shall be built and established. For fire went out of Heshbon flame out of the city of Sihon. It consumed Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, O Moab! You have perished, O people of Chemosh! He gave his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity, to Sihon, king of the Amorites. But we shot at them; Heshbon has perished even to Dibon; and we have laid waste even to Nophah, which reaches even to Medebah. Numbers 21:27-30.

These prophetical utterances embody heavenly arcana in the same way as the prophetical parts of the Old Testament. This is quite evident not only from the fact that Moses copied them and applied them to the state of affairs prevailing in his own day, but also from the fact that almost the same words occur in Jeremiah. Included there among his prophetical sayings, they hold - as becomes clear from what has been stated about the internal sense of the Word - as many heavenly arcana within them as they consist of words. Those sayings as they occur in Jeremiah are as follows,

A fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from between Sihon, and has devoured the corner of Moab and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been taken away into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. Jeremiah 48:45-46.

From this also it is evident that that Word too possessed an internal sense. Regarding the Ancient Church after the Flood, see 640, 641, 765, 1238, 1327, 2385.