580. For their power was in their mouth. ¹ - That these words signify that sensual thoughts and reasonings thence are very powerful with them, is evident from the signification of their power, which denotes to be powerful, in this case, to be very powerful; and from the signification of the mouth, which denotes sensual thought and reasoning thence, for the mouth, and the things pertaining to it, signify such things as pertain to the understanding and to thought and speech thence, because these correspond to the mouth. For all the organs which designated by one word are called the mouth, as the larynx, the glottis, the throat, the tongue, the palate, the lips, are organs serviceable to the understanding for expression and utterance; for this reason the mouth signifies thought, and reasoning thence. But because the man's thought is interior and exterior, or spiritual, natural, and sensual, therefore by the mouth is signified the thought of the man to whom the subject refers; in this case, sensual thought, because the subject treated of is the man who has become sensual through the falsities of evil. Sensual thought is the lowest of all, and is material, and corporeal. In such thought are all those who are in evils of life, and thence in falsities of doctrine, however learned and clever they may be supposed to be, and although they can arrange their falsities attractively, and clothe them in choice and eloquent language.

[2] That the mouth, from correspondence, thus in the spiritual sense, signifies thought, but in the natural sense, utterance, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in David:

"The mouth of the just meditateth wisdom" (Psalm 37:30).

The mouth here signifies thought from affection, for from that a man meditates wisdom, but not from the mouth and its speech.

In Luke, Jesus said:

"I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to resist" (21:15).

Here the mouth signifies speech from the understanding, thus thought from which man speaks.

So in Matthew:

"Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications (stupra), thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (15:11, 17-19).

Those things which enter into the mouth mean, in the sense of the letter, food of every kind, which, after having performed its use in the body, passes through the belly into the draught. But, in the spiritual sense, that which entereth into the mouth, means all things that enter into the thought from the memory, and also from the world, and these things also correspond to food. Those things that enter into the thought, and not at the same time into the will, do not defile a man, for the memory, and the thought therefrom, are to man only as it were the entrance to him, since the will is the man himself. Those things also which enter the thought and proceed no further, are cast out as it were through the belly into the draught. The belly, from correspondence, signifies the world of spirits, whence thoughts flow in with man, while the draught signifies hell.

[3] It must be observed, that man cannot be purified from evils, and the falsities thence, unless the unclean things that are in him come forth even into the thought, and are there seen, acknowledged, discerned, and rejected. From these things it is evident, that that which enters into the mouth, signifies, in the spiritual sense, that which enters into the thought from the memory and from the world; but that which comes out of the mouth, in the spiritual sense, signifies thought from the will, or from the love. For the heart, from which it comes out into the mouth, and from the mouth, signifies the will and love of man; and since the love and will constitute the whole man, for as is the love so is the man's quality, therefore those things which proceed therefrom into the mouth, and out of the mouth, make the man unclean. That these are evils of every kind, is evident from the things there enumerated. In this way is this saying of the Lord understood in the heavens. That the heart signifies the will and love, may be seen above (n. 167).

So in Isaiah:

"Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal from off the altar in his hand; and he touched my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; therefore thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated" (6:6, 7).

By one of the seraphim touching the mouth and lips of the prophet with a live coal from off the altar, is signified his interior purification, which is that of the understanding and will, and inauguration thence into the function of teaching. The live coal from off the altar signifies the Divine Love, from which is all purification, and the mouth and lips signify thought and affection, or what is the same thing, the understanding and the will, these being purified, a man is removed from iniquity and sin; it is therefore said, "therefore thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin expiated." That iniquity is not taken away by the application of a live coal to the mouth and lips, must be evident to every one. That the things pertaining to the mouth correspond to things intellectual, because from them the voice and speech proceed, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 8068, 9384), That "from the mouth and from the heart," denotes from the understanding and the will; in the same (n. 3313, 8068).

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7293. 'It will then be a water-serpent' means by the prospect that sheer illusions and resulting falsities will reign among them. This is clear from the meaning of 'a serpent' as the sensory and bodily level of mind, dealt with in 6949, and therefore illusions since that level of mind when separated from the rational level, that is, when not subordinate to it, is filled with illusions, to such an extent that it consists of scarcely anything else than illusions, see 6948, 6949. 'A water-serpent' is what is meant here; for in the original language the same word is used for this kind of serpent as that which is used to refer to a monster that is a very large fish of the sea; and 'a (sea-)monster' means factual knowledge in general.

When therefore falsities resulting from illusions are meant by 'the Egyptians', that word used in the original language denotes a serpent - a water-serpent since it can also be used to refer to the monster living in water and 'the water of Egypt' means falsities.

[2] The fact that Pharaoh or Egypt is called 'a monster' is clear in Ezekiel,

Speak and say, Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers. Ezekiel 29:3.

In the same prophet,

Son of man, raise a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him, You have become like a young lion of the nations, you are like monsters in the seas, and you have come forth with your rivers; you have stirred up your rivers Ezekiel 32:2.

Here 'monster' means known facts in general which, being the product of what a person's senses tell him, are used to pervert matters of faith. The reason why 'monster' means factual knowledge in general is that 'a fish' means that knowledge in particular, 40, 991. And since known facts perverting the truths of faith are meant by 'monsters', reasonings based on illusions, which give rise to falsities, are also meant by the same word.

[3] The same things are meant by 'monsters' in David,

You broke up the sea by your strength; you broke the heads of the monsters upon the waters. Psalms 74:13.

Much the same is also meant by 'leviathan' in Isaiah,

On that day Jehovah will make a visitation with His hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan the full-length serpent, ¹ and upon Leviathan the twisting serpent, and He will slay the monsters that are in the sea. Isaiah 27:1.

And in David,

You broke in pieces the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the people, the Ziim. Psalms 74:14.

In the good sense 'Leviathan' stands for reason based on truths, in Job 41:1-34; reason based on truths is the opposite of reasonings based on falsities.

[4] Since 'monsters' means reasonings that are based on illusions and pervert truths, 'water-serpents' - the word for which in the original language is the same as that used for 'monsters' - means the actual falsities resulting from illusions which give rise to reasonings and lead to perversions of the truth. Falsities are meant by such 'serpents' in the following places: In Isaiah,

The iim will reply in its palaces, and serpents in the delightful palaces. Isaiah 13:22.

In the same prophet,

Thorns will come up into its palaces, thistle and brier in its fortifications, so that it may be a dwelling-place of serpents, a courtyard for daughters of the owl. Isaiah 34:13.

In the same prophet,

In the dwelling-place of serpents will his bed be, grass instead of reed and rush. Isaiah 35:7.

In Jeremiah,

I will make Jerusalem heaps of rubble, the dwelling-place of serpents. Jeremiah 9:11.

In Malachi,

I have turned the mountains of Esau into a waste, and his inheritance into [a place] for the serpents of the wilderness. Malachi 1:3.

In all these places 'serpents' stands for falsities on which reasonings are based.

[5] The same things are also meant by 'dragons', but 'dragons' are reasonings that spring from self-love and love of the world, thus from desires for what is evil, which pervert not only truths but forms of good as well. These reasonings are produced by people who in their hearts repudiate the truths and forms of the good of faith, but affirm them with their lips because of their intense desire to obtain dominance and gain. Thus such reasonings are also produced by those who render truths and forms of good profane. Both of these kinds of people are meant by 'the dragon, the serpent of old, who is called the devil and satan, who leads the whole world astray', Revelation 12:9, and also by this same dragon which persecuted the woman who had given birth to a son who was caught up to God and to His throne, Revelation 11:5, and which emitted water from its mouth like a river, to swallow up the woman, Revelation 12:13, 15.

[6] The son to whom the woman had given birth is Divine Truth now revealed at the present day, 'the woman' being the Church. 'The dragon, the serpent' is those who are going to persecute it, and 'the water like a river which the dragon emitted' is falsities arising out of evil and the resulting reasonings which they are going to use in their endeavour to destroy the woman, that is, the Church. But the fact that they will not at all accomplish this is described by the statement that 'the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon emitted', Revelation 12:16.

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