9231. 'You shall throw it to the dogs' means that these things are unclean. This is clear from the meaning of 'dogs' as those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications. For all beasts in the Word mean the affections and inclinations such as exist with a human being; gentle and useful beasts mean good affections and inclinations, but fierce and useless ones mean bad affections and inclinations. The reason why such things are meant by beasts is that the external or natural man is endowed with affections and inclinations similar to those that beasts possess, and also with similar appetites and similar senses. But the difference is that the human being has within himself what is called the internal man. And the internal man is so distinct and separate from the external that it can see things that arise in the external, rule them, and control them. The internal man can also be raised to heaven, even up to the Lord, and so be joined to Him in thought and affection, consequently in faith and love. Furthermore the internal man is so distinct and separate that it is parted from the external after death and lives on for evermore. These characteristics mark the human being off from beasts. But they are not seen by people who look at things on merely the natural level and the level of the senses; for their internal man is closed towards heaven. They draw no distinction therefore between the human being and a beast other than this, that the human being has the ability to speak; and even this is considered to be of little importance by those seeing things on merely the level of the senses.

[2] The reason why 'dogs' means those who render the good of faith unclean by means of falsifications is that dogs eat unclean things, and also yap and bite people. This also explains why nations outside the Church who were steeped in falsities arising from evil were called dogs by the Jews and considered to be utterly worthless. The fact that they were called 'dogs' is evident from the Lord's words addressed to the woman who was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician, whose daughter was troubled grievously by a demon,

It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs. But she said, To be sure, Lord, but even the dogs eat from the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Matthew 15:26-27; Mark 7:26-28.

Here it is self-evident that those outside the Church are meant by 'the dogs', and those within the Church by 'the children'.

[3] Similarly in Luke,

There was a certain rich man (homo) who was clothed in purple and fine linen and indulged himself splendidly every day. But there was a poor one whose name was Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table. Furthermore the dogs came and licked his sores. Luke 16:19-21.

'The rich one clothed in purple and fine linen' means those within the Church, 'the purple and fine linen' with which he was clothed being cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth that come from the Word. 'A poor one' means those within the Church with whom there is little good because they have no knowledge of truth, but who nevertheless have had a desire to receive instruction, 9209. He was referred to as Lazarus after the Lazarus whom the Lord raised from the dead, about whom it says that the Lord loved him, John 11:1-3, 36; that he was His friend, John 11:11; and that he sat at the table with the Lord, John 12:2. 'His wish to be filled with the crumbs falling from the rich one's table' meant his desire to learn a few truths from those within the Church possessing them in abundance. 'The dogs that licked his sores' are those outside the Church who are governed by good, though not the authentic good of faith; 'licking the sores' is curing them as best they can.

[4] In John,

Outside are dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators. Revelation 22:15.

'Dogs, sorcerers, and fornicators' stands for those who falsify the good and truth of faith. They are said 'to be outside' when they are outside heaven or the Church. The fact that good which has been falsified, and so made unclean, is meant by 'the dogs' is also evident in Matthew,

Do not give what is holy to the dogs; do not cast your pearls before swine. Matthew 7:6.

In Moses,

You shall not bring a harlot's reward, or the price of a dog, into Jehovah's house for any vowed offering, because both are an abomination to your God. Deuteronomy 23:18.

'A harlot's reward' stands for falsified truths of faith, 'the price of a dog' for falsified forms of the good of faith. For the meaning of 'whoredom' as falsification of the truth of faith, see 2466, 2729, 4865, 8904.

[5] In David,

Dogs have surrounded me, the assembly of the wicked has encompassed me, piercing my hands and my feet. Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the power ¹ of the dog. Psalms 22:16, 20.

'Dogs' here stands for those who destroy forms of the good of faith, who are therefore called 'the assembly of the wicked'. 'Delivering one's soul from the sword' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, 'the sword' being the falsity that lays waste the truth of faith, see 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294, and 'soul' the life of faith, 9050. From this it is also evident that 'delivering my only soul from the power of the dog' means rescuing it from falsity that lays waste the good of faith. When it was said that people were to be dragged and eaten by dogs, 1 Kings 14:11; 16:4; 21:23-24; 2 Kings 9:10, 36; Jeremiah 15:3, the meaning was that they would be destroyed by unclean things. When people compared themselves to dead dogs, 1 Samuel 24:14; 2 Samuel 3:8; 9:8; 16:9, the meaning was that they would be considered utterly worthless ones who were to be cast out. What more is meant by 'dogs', see 7784.

Poznámky pod čarou:

4966. 'The chief of the attendants' means which facts come first and foremost in explanations. This is clear from the meaning of 'the chief of the attendants' as the facts which come first and foremost in explanations, dealt with in 4790. Ones which come first and foremost in explanations are those which are pre-eminently suitable for explaining the Word, and so for coming to understand teachings drawn from the Word about love to God and charity towards the neighbour. It should be recognized that the factual knowledge of the people of old was entirely different from that existing at the present day. As stated above, the factual knowledge of the people of old had to do with the correspondences of things in the natural world with realities in the spiritual world. Knowledge which at the present day is called philosophical knowledge, such as Aristotelian systems and their like, did not exist among them. This is also evident from the books written by ancient authors, most of which consisted of descriptions of such things as were signs of, represented, and corresponded to more internal realities, as may be seen from the following evidence, and ignoring all else.

[2] They envisaged Helicon on a mountain and took it to mean heaven, and Parnassus on a hill below that, and took it to mean factual knowledge. They spoke of a flying horse, called Pegasus by them, which broke open a fountain there with its hoof; they called branches of knowledge virgins; and so on. For with the help of correspondences and representatives they knew that 'a mountain' meant heaven, 'a hill' the heaven beneath this, which is heaven as it exists among men, a horse' the power of understanding, 'its wings with which it flew' spiritual things, 'its hoof' that which was natural, 'a fountain' intelligence, while three virgins called 'the Graces' meant affections for good, and virgins who were named 'the Heliconians and 'the Parnassians' meant affections for truth. To the sun they likewise allotted horses, whose food they called ambrosia and whose drink they called nectar; for they knew that 'the sun' meant heavenly love, 'horses' powers of the understanding which sprang from that love, while 'food' meant celestial things and 'drink' spiritual ones.

[3] The Ancients are also the originators of customs that are still followed when kings are crowned. The king has to sit on a silver throne, wear a purple robe, and be anointed with oil. He has to wear a crown on his head, while holding in his hands a sceptre, a sword, and keys. He has to ride in regal splendour on a white horse shed with horseshoes made of silver; and he has to be waited on at table by the chief nobles of the kingdom. And many other customs are followed besides these. The Ancients knew that 'a king' represented Divine Truth that is rooted in Divine Good, and from this they knew what was meant by a silver throne, a purple robe, anointing oil, crown, sceptre, sword, keys, white horse, horseshoes made of silver, and what was meant by being waited on at table by the chief nobles. Who at the present day knows the meaning of any of these customs, or where the information exists to show him their meaning? People refer to them as symbols, but they know nothing at all about correspondence or representation. All this evidence shows what the factual knowledge possessed by the Ancients was like, and that this knowledge gave them a discernment of spiritual and heavenly realities, which at the present day are scarcely known to exist.

[4] The factual knowledge that has replaced that of the Ancients, and which strictly speaking is called philosophical knowledge, tends to draw the mind away from knowing such things because such knowledge can also be employed to substantiate false ideas. Furthermore, even when used to substantiate true ones it introduces darkness into the mind, because for the most part mere terms are used to substantiate them, which few people can understand and which the few who do understand them argue about. From this it may be seen how far the human race has departed from the learning of the Ancients, which led to wisdom. Gentiles received their factual knowledge from the Ancient Church, whose external worship consisted in representatives and meaningful signs and whose internal worship consisted in the realities represented and meant by these. This was the kind of factual knowledge that is meant in the genuine sense by 'Egypt'.