7424. 'And there were lice on man and on beast' means that evils rose up from those things - interior and exterior evils attached to wicked desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'lice' as evils, dealt with in 7419; from the meaning of 'man' as good, dealt with in 4287, 5302, and so in the contrary sense as evil; and from the meaning of 'beast' as the affection for good, and in the contrary sense as the affection for evil, which is evil or wicked desire, dealt with in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198. But when the expression 'man and beast' is used, man' means interior good, and in the contrary sense interior evil, while 'beast' means exterior good, and in the contrary sense exterior evil. The reason why 'man' means interior good or interior evil is that a person is truly human by virtue of his internal man and the nature of this, not by virtue of his external man; for without the internal the external man is not truly human. If the external man too is to be truly human it must be completely subject to the internal, so completely that it does not act by itself, only from the internal. The reason why 'beast' means exterior good and in the contrary sense exterior evil is that beasts do not have an internal side to them like that present in a human being. With them the internal side is merged into the external, so completely that it makes one with it, and at the same looks downwards or towards the ground without any uplifting towards more internal things. The expression 'evils attached to wicked desires' is used because all evils are objects of wicked desires; for wicked desires are the longings of a person's loves. What makes interior evils different from exterior evils is this: Interior evils belong to thought and will, whereas exterior evils belong to actions. The fact that evils may be interior without being exterior is evident from the consideration that a person can be evil and yet to outward appearance look like an upright man, indeed like a man possessing faith and conscience. Some even know how to pretend to be angels when in fact inwardly they are devils. This is how great the difference can be between the inward appearance, which is that presented by the spirit, and the outward appearance, which is that presented by the body.

3218. When angels are stirred by affections and at the same time are discussing these, such things manifest themselves among spirits in the lower sphere as representative types of animals. When the discussion concerns good affections, beautiful, gentle, and useful animals emerge such as those used in sacrifices in the Divine representative worship within the Jewish Church - such as lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, rams, he-goats, calves, young bulls, and oxen. And whatever is seen at any time on the animal represents some mental image in the angels' thought, which upright spirits are also allowed to perceive. From this one may see what was meant by the animals in the religious observances of the Jewish Church, and what by the same animals when mentioned in the Word, namely affections, 1823, 2179, 2180. But when angels' discussion is about evil affections it is represented by offensive, vicious creatures serving no use, such as tigers, bears, wolves, scorpions, serpents, rats, and so on, even as such affections are also meant by these in the Word.