8908. 'You shall not answer as a witness of a lie against your neighbour' means that good must not be called evil, nor truth falsity, and conversely that evil must not be called good, nor falsity truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'witness of a lie' as the confirmation of falsity. For the meaning of 'witness' as confirmation, see 4197; and the meaning of 'a lie' as falsity of faith will be evident from what follows below. 'Answering against the neighbour' is speaking to someone in that manner; for 'neighbour' means any and every person, in particular everyone governed by good, and in the abstract sense good itself, 3419, 5025, 6704, 6706-6711, 6818, 8123, so that in the internal sense 'you shall not answer as the witness of a lie against your neighbour' means not saying what is false to anyone, that is, not saying that good is evil and truth is falsity, or vice versa.

[2] What this implies must be explained briefly. None who are ruled by self-love or by love of the world, that is, whose end in view is either to have high and honoured positions or to possess wealth and gain, care when they tell and persuade others that something just is unjust or something unjust is just, and by doing this behave as 'witnesses of a lie'. The reason why they are like this is that their will is in complete subjection to those loves and accompanying desires; it is completely possessed and dominated by them. At the same time the understanding, which is the other part of the mind, indeed has the ability to see what is just or unjust but has no wish to see it. For the will prevails over the understanding; it flows into and persuades it, and at length also makes it blind. Those same people possess no conscience, nor do they know that conscience consists in saying that something just is just, and for no other reason than because it is so, that is, from a love of what is just. People who are like this in the world are also like it in the next life, except for the difference that they do not then say something just is unjust. Instead they call the good of faith evil, and truth falsity, since what is just in dealings with people in the world corresponds to what is good and true in the spiritual world. This is done by them without conscience and also without any shame because it was something they had learned to do during their lifetime and grown accustomed to.

[3] Many times in the Word the expression 'a lie' is used, and wherever it occurs the falsity and evil of faith is meant in the internal sense. And 'the witness of a lie', who is also called 'the witness of violence', means confirming something false, whether before a judge, or before someone else, or before oneself by convincing oneself in one's inner thinking, as in Exodus 23:1ff; Leviticus 19:11-12ff; Deuteronomy 19:16-20. The fact that 'a lie' in the spiritual sense is the evil and falsity of faith is clear from the following places: In John,

You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth because the truth is not in him. When he speaks a lie he speaks from the things that are his own, for he is the teller of a lie and the father of it. John 8:44.

Here 'a lie' stands for falsity of faith, for it refers to the unwillingness of the Jews to acknowledge the Lord. 'The devil' in the spiritual sense here is falsity, and 'the father of it' is evil; for falsity springs from evil like son from father. The falsity that is the devil's is the falsity of faith, the evil that is his is the evil of self-love and love of the world.

[4] In Isaiah,

Moab is exceedingly proud; his haughtiness, and his pride, and his anger - his lies are not firm. Isaiah 16:6.

'Lies' stands for falsities of faith, since 'Moab' is those who, ruled by the evil of self-love, therefore falsify truths, 2468, 8315. In the same prophet,

We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have shaped a vision. We have put our trust in a lie, and we have hidden in falsity. Isaiah 28:15.

In the same prophet,

They were a rebellious people, lying sons, sons who did not wish to hear the law of Jehovah. Isaiah 30:9.

In Jeremiah,

They deceive one another, ¹ and do not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak a lie Jeremiah 9:5.

In the same prophet,

Behold, I am against those that prophesy lying dreams ² and tell them in order that they may mislead My people by their lies. Jeremiah 23:32.

In the same prophet,

O sword, [be] against the liars, that they may become foolish. Jeremiah 50:36.

In Ezekiel,

They have seen vanity and lying divination, ³ saying, Jehovah has said! when Jehovah has not sent them. Therefore thus has the Lord Jehovih said, Because you speak vanity and see a lie, therefore behold, I am against you. Ezekiel 13:6-9.

In Nahum,

Woe to the city of blood! ⁴ It is all full of lies and plunder. Nahum 3:1.

In Zephaniah,

The remnant of Israel will not do iniquity or speak any lie; nor will a fraudulent tongue be found in their mouth. They will feed and rest. Zephaniah 3:13.

In John,

Outside are dogs, and sorcerers, and fornicators, and murderers, and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices a lie. Revelation 22:15.

In these as in many other places 'a lie' stands for the falsity and evil of faith.

Poznámky pod čarou:

9258. 'And you would cease from removing [it] for him' means not receiving truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'ceasing from removing' as not giving instruction and correcting, at this point not being able to receive instruction, and so not receiving truth since what is said refers to falsity which does not accord with the Church's good, and that falsity is such. The fact that 'removing' has this meaning in the spiritual sense is evident from this consideration, that words are used with reference to the matter under discussion. Thus 'removing' is used in the sense of the letter with reference to the burden under which the ass lies, and in the internal sense with reference to the falsity that is not in accord with the Church's good. In the internal sense therefore not removing from falsity by means of correction is meant, thus also not receiving truth brought about through such correcting or removing. There are falsities which are in accord with the Church's good, and there are falsities which are not in accord with it. The falsities that are in accord are ones which have good lying hidden within them, and which for that reason can be brought by the good nearer to truths. But the falsities that are not in accord with the Church's good are ones which have evil lying hidden within them, and which for that reason cannot be brought nearer to truths.

[2] As regards the good which lies within authentic truths, or else within unauthentic truths, which have been called falsities immediately above, and as regards the evil within falsities and even within truths, that good or evil is like the reproductive germ of life in the seed of a fruit. When the fruit starts to grow all its fibres fix their attention on the germ in the seed; they nourish it with juice passing through them and form it. But once it has been formed the fibres forsake it and convey the juice away from the seed. As a consequence the flesh of the fruit deteriorates and goes rotten, and then it serves the germ as its soil. The same applies to the seed itself when the germ in it begins a new phase of development in the ground. The germ of life in new shoots corresponds to the good within a person; the seed itself corresponds to the inward parts of his being; and the flesh around the seed corresponds to the outward parts. When the inward part of a person is formed anew or regenerated, the factual knowledge and truths belonging to the external man are like the fibres of a fruit through which juice is transported to the inward part. And afterwards, when the person has been regenerated, they are separated and serve as the soil [for the inward part]. Something similar happens in the person's inward part to which the seed corresponds. The good which has been formed in that manner gives rise to a new person, just as the germ within the seed develops into a new tree or new shoot. In this way all things are made new, after which they multiply and remain fruitful for evermore. So it is that the new person becomes like a garden, a paradise garden, to which also he is compared in the Word.

[3] This is the meaning of the Lord's words in Matthew,

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a person took and sowed in his field, which is the smallest of all seeds. But when it has grown it is the greatest of all plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32.

These words make clear what the situation is with authentic truths and unauthentic truths which have good within them, namely this: When the good has been formed it gives rise to truths such as are in accord with good. Even if they are unauthentic truths they are accepted as though they were authentic ones because they savour of good; for they derive their very being and life from it. Good germinates and develops by means of truths, and while it is developing it is constantly endeavouring to give birth to new good which holds a like ability to germinate. It acts in much the same way as the seed's reproductive germ does in a new shoot or tree when this comes up out of the ground and exists to produce new fruit and new seeds. But there are endless varieties, the different natures of which are determined by the kinds of good that have been formed through a charitable life led in keeping with the commandments of faith.

[4] By contrast one can see also what the situation is with falsities which have evil within them, namely that they are like trees which bear bad fruit, which must be uprooted and thrown into the fire, in accordance with the Lord's words in Matthew,

Every good tree bears good fruit, but a rotten tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:17-20; 12:33.

And in John,

Jesus said, As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you cannot do anything. If a person does not abide in Me he will be cast forth as a branch and be withered; and they gather it and throw it into the fire, and it is burned. John 15:4-6.

From this it is evident that all good which is going to bear any fruit begins in the Lord, and unless it comes from Him it is not good.