9262. And the innocent and the righteous slay thou not. That this signifies an aversion for destroying interior and exterior good, is evident from the signification of “the innocent,” as being one who is in interior good, thus in the abstract sense, interior good (of which below); from the signification of “the righteous,” as being one in exterior good, and in the abstract sense, exterior good, for “righteous” is predicated of the good of love toward the neighbor, and “innocent” of the good of love to the Lord. The good of love toward the neighbor is exterior good, and the good of love to the Lord is interior good. And from the signification of “slaying,” as being to destroy. That “righteous” denotes the good of love toward the neighbor, will also be seen below. But that “innocent” denotes the good of love to the Lord, is because those are in innocence who love the Lord. For innocence is to acknowledge in the heart that of ourselves we desire nothing but evil, and perceive nothing but falsity, and also that all the good which is of love, and all the truth which is of faith, are from the Lord alone. None can at heart acknowledge these things except those who are conjoined with the Lord by love. Such are they who are in the inmost heaven, which from this is called the “heaven of innocence.” Wherefore the good they have is interior good; for it is the Divine good of love that proceeds from the Lord which is received by those who are in the heaven of innocence. Hence also they appear naked, and likewise as little children, from which it is that innocence is represented by nakedness, and also by infancy. (That it is represented by nakedness, see n. 165, 213, 214, 8375; and by infancy, n. 430, 1616, 2280, 2305, 2306, 3183, 3494, 4563, 4797, 5608.)

[2] From what has just been said about innocence it can be seen that the Lord’s Divine cannot be received except in innocence, from which it follows that good is not good, unless innocence is within it (n. 2526, 2780, 3994, 6765, 7840, 7887), that is, the acknowledgment that from one’s own proceeds nothing but what is evil and false, and that from the Lord is everything that is good and true. To believe the former, and to believe and also to will the latter, is innocence. Therefore the good of innocence is good Divine itself from the Lord with man. Consequently “the innocent” signifies one who is in interior good, and in the abstract sense, interior good.

[3] As Divine good which is from the Lord is signified by “the innocent,” or by “innocence,” it was a most heinous crime to shed innocent blood; and when it was committed, the whole land was under condemnation until it was expiated, as can be seen from the procedure of inquiry and purgation that took place if anyone was found stabbed in the land; of which it is thus written in Moses:

When one who has been stabbed is found in the land, lying in the field, and it is not known who hath smitten him; then the elders of the city shall come forth unto the cities which are round about him that is stabbed; and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto him that is stabbed, the elders of that city shall take a female calf of an ox by which labor hath not been done, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring down the calf unto a barren valley, which is neither cultivated nor sown, and shall cut off the calf’s neck there in the valley; and the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near; and all the elders of that city, standing near him that is stabbed, shall wash their hands over the calf whose neck was cut off in the valley; and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen it; expiate Thy people Israel whom Thou hast redeemed, O Jehovah, and put not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel. So shall the blood be expiated for them. And thou shalt put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, if thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah (Deuteronomy 21:1-9);

everyone can see that this procedure of inquiry and of purgation in respect to innocent blood shed in the land, involves arcana of heaven, which cannot possibly be known unless it is known what is signified by “one stabbed in the field,” by “a female calf of an ox by which labor hath not been done and which hath not drawn in the yoke,” by “a barren valley which is neither cultivated nor sown,” by “cutting off the calf’s neck there in the valley,” by “washing the hands over the calf,” and by all the other particulars. That these things should have been commanded unless they signified secret things, would by no means be consistent with a Word that has been dictated by the Divine, and inspired in respect to every word and jot; for without some deeper meaning such a procedure would have been a ceremonial of no sanctity, and scarcely of any account.

[4] Nevertheless it is evident from the internal sense what arcana are hidden within it. Thus if it is known that by “one stabbed in the land lying in the field” is signified truth and good extinguished in a church where there is good, that by “the city which is nearest unto him that is stabbed” is signified the truth of doctrine of the church whose good has been extinguished; that by “a female calf of an ox by which work hath not been done and which hath not drawn in the yoke” is signified the good of the external or natural man, that has not as yet, through subjection to cupidities, drawn to itself any falsities of faith and evils of love; that by “a barren valley which is neither cultivated nor sown” is signified the natural mind which through ignorance is not improved with the truths and goods of faith; that by “cutting off the calf’s neck there in the valley” is signified expiation on account of the absence of guilt, because it was the result of ignorance; and that by “washing the hands” is signified purification from this heinous crime; then from the knowledge of all these things it is evident that by the “shedding of innocent blood” is signified the extinction with the man of the church of the Divine truth and good which are from the Lord, and thus of the Lord Himself.

[5] Be it known that by this whole procedure there was represented in heaven a crime of this nature done without guilt, because done from ignorance in which there is innocence, consequently as not evil. Every detail of this procedure, even the smallest, represented some essential thing in this matter; and what it represented is evident from the internal sense. (That “one who has been stabbed” denotes truth and good extinguished, see n. 4503; that “the land” denotes the church, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 8732; that “a field” denotes the church as to good, thus the good of the church, n. 2971, 3310, 3766, 4982, 7502, 7571, 9139; that “a city” denotes the doctrine of truth, thus the truth of the doctrine of the church, n. 402, 2268, 2449, 2712, 2943, 3216, 4492, 4493; that “an ox” denotes the good of the external or natural man, n. 2180, 2566, 2781, 9134; consequently that “a calf” denotes infantile good, n. 1824, 1825.)

[6] That it “hath not done labor, and hath not drawn in the yoke” denotes that this good has not yet, through ignorance, been enslaved to falsities and evils, is evident, for “laboring and drawing in a yoke” denotes to serve. That “a valley” denotes the lower mind, which is called the natural mind, see n. 3417, 4715; that “barren” denotes a mind devoid of truths and goods, n. 3908; thus that “a valley which is neither cultivated nor sown” denotes the natural mind not as yet improved with truths and goods, thus which is as yet in ignorance; that the “seed” with which it is sown denotes the truth of faith, n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940, 2848, 3038, 3373, 3671, 6158. That “cutting off the neck” denotes expiation, is because by the slaying of various beasts, as well as by sacrifices, were signified expiations. That “washing the hand” denotes purification from falsities and evils, see n. 3147; here therefore it denotes purification from that heinous crime; for “to shed blood” signifies in general to do violence to good and truth (n. 9127); thus to “shed innocent blood” signifies to extinguish in a man what is Divine from the Lord, thus the Lord Himself in him; for the truth and good in a man are the Lord Himself, because they are from Him.

[7] The like is signified by “the shedding of innocent blood” in Deuteronomy 19:10; 27:25; Isaiah 59:3, 7; Jeremiah 2:34; 7:6; 19:4; 22:3, 17; Joel 3:19; Psalms 94:21. In the proximate sense “the innocent” signifies one who is without guilt and without evil, which in olden times was attested by the washing of the hands (Psalms 26:6; 73:13; Matthew 27:24; John 18:38; 19:4). The reason of this was that the good which is from the Lord with man is devoid of guilt and of evil. This good, as has been shown, is in the internal sense the good of innocence. But the good in the external man, that is, exterior good which is devoid of guilt and of evil, is called “the righteous,” as also in David:

The throne of perditions shall not have fellowship with Thee; who gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood (Psalms 94:20-21).

4503. The sons of Jacob came upon those who were pierced, and plundered the city. That this signifies that all that posterity destroyed the doctrine, is evident from the signification of the “sons of Jacob,” as being the posterity from Jacob (of which above); from the signification of “to plunder” as being to destroy; and from the signification of a “city,” as being the doctrine of the church (see above, n. 4500). That after Simeon and Leviticus had slain every male in the city, and also Hamor and Shechem, they went forth, and that the sons of Jacob then came upon those who were pierced and plundered the city, is a mystery not manifest except from the internal sense.

[2] This mystery is that after the truth and good of the church represented by Simeon and Leviticus had been extinguished, and falsity and evil had taken their place, there were then superadded those falsities and evils which are signified in the opposite sense by the rest of the sons of Jacob. (That each son of Jacob represented some general principle of faith and charity was shown above, n. 2129, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060; what was represented by Reuben, n. 3861, 3866, 3870; what by Judah, n. 3881; what by Dan, n. 3921-3923; what by Naphtali, n. 3927, 3928; what by Gad, n. 3934, 3935; what by Asher, n. 3938, 3939; what by Issachar, n. 3956, 3957; and what by Zebulun, n. 3960, 3961.) These generals of faith and charity represented by them become falsities and evils of that kind when once the truth and good of the church have been extinguished, and then these falsities and evils are superadded; for falsities and evils continually grow in the church that has once been perverted and extinguished, and it is these which are signified by the sons of Jacob coming upon those who were pierced and plundering the city, after Simeon and Leviticus had slain every male in the city, and Hamor and Shechem also, and had taken away Dinah, and had gone forth.

[3] That by “those who are pierced” are signified in the Word truths and goods extinguished is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

Thou art cast forth out of thy sepulchre like an abominable shoot, the raiment of the slain that are pierced with the sword, that go down to the stones of the pit, as a carcass trodden under foot (Isaiah 14:19);

said of Babylon; “those pierced with the sword” denote those who have profaned the truths of the church. Again:

So that their pierced shall be cast forth, and the stink of their carcasses shall come up (Isaiah 34:3);

treating of the falsities and evils that infest the church, which are meant by the “pierced.”

[4] In Ezekiel:

The violent of the nations shall draw their sword against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall profane thy comeliness; they shall let thee down into the pit, and thou shall die the deaths of those who are pierced in the midst of the seas (Ezekiel 28:7-8);

said of the prince of Tyre, by whom are signified the primary things of the knowledges of truth and good; “dying the deaths of those who are pierced in the midst of the seas,” denotes those who hatch falsities by means of memory-knowledges, and thereby defile the truths of the church.

[5] Again:

These also shall go down with them into hell, unto those who are pierced with the sword; when thou shalt be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the earth of lower things, thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with them that are pierced with the sword (Ezekiel 31:17-18).

Again:

Go down and lie with the uncircumcised; they shall fall in the midst of those who are pierced with the sword; the chief of the mighty ones shall speak to him in the midst of hell (Ezekiel 32:19-21);

said of Pharaoh and Egypt; “those pierced with the sword” denote those who become insane through knowledges, by which they extinguish in themselves the faith of the truth of the church.

[6] In David:

I am accounted among those who go down into the pit; I have become as a man that has no strength, neglected among the dead, like the pierced that lie in the grave, whom Thou hast remembered no more, and who have been cut off by Thy hand (Psalms 88:4-5);

“those who are pierced in hell,” “in the pit,” and “in the grave,” denote those who have destroyed truths and goods in themselves by falsities and evils. It is obvious that they are not in hell merely because they had been pierced with the sword.

[7] In Isaiah:

A city of tumults, a city that exulteth, they are not pierced with the sword, and are not slain in war; all who have been found in thee were bound together, they fled from afar (Isaiah 22:2-3);

said of fallacies from sensuous things through which the truths of the church cannot be seen, and concerning which they are therefore in negative doubt, and are said to be “pierced, but not with the sword.”

[8] In Ezekiel:

I bring a sword upon thee, and I destroy your high places, and your altars shall be destroyed, and your statues shall be broken, and I will cause your pierced ones to lie before your idols; when the pierced ones shall fall in the midst of you, you shall know that I am Jehovah; then ye shall acknowledge, when the pierced ones shall be in the midst of their idols, round about their altar (Ezekiel 6:3-4, 7, 13); where the “pierced ones” denote those who are in falsities of doctrine.

[9] Again:

Defile the house, and fill the courts with the pierced ones; they went forth and smote in the city (Ezekiel 9:7);

a prophetic vision; “to defile the house and fill the courts with the pierced ones,” denotes to profane goods and truths. Again:

Ye have multiplied your pierced ones in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the pierced one; wherefore said the Lord Jehovih, Your pierced ones whom ye have put in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and that is the pot, and He shall bring you forth out of the midst of it (Ezekiel 11:6-7).

[10] As by “the pierced” are signified those who have extinguished the truths of the church in themselves by falsities and evils, therefore also in the representative church they who touched one who was pierced were unclean, of whom we read in Moses:

Whosoever has touched upon the surface of the field one that is pierced with a sword, or the dead, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days (Numbers 19:16, 18).

And therefore inquiry was made, and expiation was made by means of a calf, as again in Moses:

If one pierced be found lying in the field, and it be not known who has smitten him, then the elders of the city and the judges shall come forth, and they shall measure toward the cities which are round about him that is pierced; and it shall be, at the city which is nearest unto him that is pierced the elders of that city shall take a she-calf of an ox, by which labor hath not been done, and which hath not drawn in the yoke, and they shall bring her down unto a river or a valley, and shall behead the calf there, and wash their hands over the beheaded calf, and shall say, Our hands have not shed blood, and our eyes have not seen it; expiate Thy people Israel, O Jehovah, and give not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people; and the blood shall be expiated for them (Deuteronomy 21:1-8).

[11] That these laws were given because by the “pierced” is signified the perversion, destruction, and profanation of the truth of the church by falsity and evil, is manifest from every particular in the internal sense. It is said “a pierced one lying in the field,” because by a “field” is signified the church (see n. 2971, 3310, 3766). A “she-calf” by which labor has not been done signifies that innocence of the external man which is in ignorance. Unless these things were made known by the internal sense, the enjoining of such an expiatory process would excite universal surprise.