632. And the holy city shall they trample down, signifies that they will destroy all the doctrine of good and truth from the Word. This is evident from the signification of "the holy city," as being the doctrine of truth and good from the Word; in the sense of the letter "the holy city" means Jerusalem, which in the Word here and there is called "the holy city;" but "Jerusalem" means the church, and a "city" the doctrine of the church; that a "city" [civitas or urbs] signifies doctrine, see above n. 223; therefore "the holy city" signifies the doctrine of Divine truth, for Divine truth is what is called "holy" in the Word n. 204. This is evident also from the signification of "trampling down," as being to destroy altogether, in particular by means of things sensual and natural, consequently by means of fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses, from which when not explained mere falsities spring; such things are signified by "trampling down," because trampling is done by the soles of the feet, and "the soles of the feet" signify the external sensual things of man, and "feet" his natural things. That this signification of "soles" and of "feet" is from correspondence, see above (n. 65, 606; and in the work on Heaven and Hell 96).

[2] It is said that "the nations shall trample down the holy city," because this follows after the words, "The court which is without the temple cast out, for it is given to the nations," and the "court" signifies the external of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and the external of the Word is what is perverted, and thus adulterated and falsified, by the nations, that is, by those who are in evils and falsities. For, as was said in the preceding article, the external of the Word, which is called the sense of its letter, is for children and the simple-minded, and is therefore written according to appearances, thus for those who are sensual and natural; for infants are first sensual, afterwards natural, and when they advance in age they become spiritual. But when a man does not become spiritual, as is the case with all who live in evil, he does not understand the Word spiritually, but only naturally and sensually, and he who so understands the Word perverts it, and explains it according to the falsities of his religion and according to the evils of his life. This is why it is said that "they shall trample it down." Moreover, those who deny and despise the truths of heaven and the church appear in the spiritual world to trample them under the soles of the feet, and this, as was said above, because the external sensual of man corresponds to the soles of the feet, which are what trample down. It is said that the external sensual of man does this, but it is the sensual of those only who are merely sensual, who are such as deny the truths of heaven and the church, and who also believe nothing except what they can see with their eyes and touch with their hands.

[3] "To trample down" is predicated of such in the following passages also. In Luke:

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem shall finally be trampled down by the nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled (Luke 21:24).

This has a similar signification as the passage in Revelation here explained, that "the court is given to the nations, and the holy city shall they trample down forty-two months;" for "they shall fall by the edge of the sword" signifies that they shall perish by falsities; "they shall be led captive among all nations" signifies that evils will make a prey of the goods and truths of the church; "Jerusalem shall be trampled down" signifies the destruction of the church in respect to doctrine; for "Jerusalem" signifies the church in respect to doctrine; "its being trampled down by the nations" signifies the total destruction of the church by evils of life and falsities of doctrine; "until the time of the nations shall be fulfilled" signifies until evil is consummated (See above, n. 624); this consummation is also signified by the "forty-two months." This, too, like what is said in Revelation, was said by the Lord respecting the time just preceding the Last Judgment.

[4] In Ezekiel:

Is this a small thing to you? Ye feed upon the good pasture, and trample down with your feet the remainder of your pastures; ye drink the sediment of the waters, ye stir up the remainder with your feet; and thus my flock feeds upon what ye have trampled down with your feet, and drink that which is stirred up by your feet (Ezekiel 34:18, 19).

"Good pasture" signifies all that which spiritually nourishes, especially the Word and the knowledges of truth and good therefrom; "to feed upon it and to trample down the remainder with the feet" signifies to so do away with it that it does not appear, and to so destroy it that it is not, and this is done by reasonings from the corporeal-sensual, and from the natural man separated from the spiritual. This therefore is what is meant by "trampling down with the feet;" "the sediment of the waters" signify truths defiled by falsities, for "waters" mean truths, and "to drink thereof" signifies to learn and to receive; "to stir up the remainder of the waters with the feet" signifies to bring nevertheless into confusion by reasonings from the natural man the truths that are not defiled by falsities, "feet" signifying the natural things in man. From this what is signified by "my flock shall drink what is trampled down by the feet, and what is stirred up by the feet," can be seen.

[5] In Daniel:

The he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down, nor was there anyone to deliver the ram out of his hand; afterwards one horn waxed great from a little one; even to the host of the heavens, and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the earth and trampled them down (Daniel 8:7, 9, 10).

The "he-goat" here signifies faith separated from charity, and the "ram" signifies faith conjoined to charity, thus charity, the same as the "he-goats and sheep" in Matthew 25:31-46; "the one horn that waxed great from a little one" signifies justification by faith alone; "the host of the heavens" signifies all truths and goods of heaven and the church, and the "stars" signify the knowledges of good and truth; therefore "to trample down the ram" and also "the host of the heavens" signifies to destroy charity utterly, and with it all the truths and goods of heaven and the church, and this by the corporeal-sensual; for they who are in faith separated from charity, that is, who believe that they are saved by faith alone whatever their life may be, become corporeal-sensual, and are consequently in falsities in respect to all things of the Word and of the church; for they have no perception of the Word otherwise than according to the ultimate sense of its letter, seeing nothing interiorly in it; and even if they speak truths from the Word they nevertheless perceive them falsely; therefore this is what is signified by "the he-goat cast down to the earth some of the host of the heavens and some of the stars, and trampled them down." That charity towards the neighbor, that is, the good of life, is in like manner destroyed, is meant by "the he-goat cast the ram to the earth and trampled him down;" for they who are in faith separated from charity, who are meant by the "he-goat," make faith the essential and charity the nonessential, therefore they live for the body and the world, and are solicitous about themselves only, and not at all about the neighbor; and those who do this cast charity (which is meant by the "ram, ") to the earth and trample it down.

[6] In Luke:

Some seed fell upon the way and was trampled down, or the fowls of heaven devoured it (Luke 8:5).

"Seed" signifies Divine truth, or the truth of the Word; "to fall upon the way and be trampled down" signifies to be received only by the corporeal-sensual, and not interiorly; for that which is received in the spirit and in the heart is meant by "the seed that fell into the good earth." "The fowls of heaven that devoured it" signify falsities, for all evils and falsities therefrom have their seat in the corporeal-sensual, consequently unless a man becomes spiritual, and thinks from what is spiritual, he thinks nothing but falsities from evil. (What the corporeal-sensual is, and what sensual men are, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 50, also above, (n. 342, 543, 550, 552, 554, 556, 559, 563, 569, 570, 580)

[7] In Isaiah:

I will make known to you what I will do to My vineyard; in taking away its hedge that it may be eaten up, and in breaking down its wall that it may be trampled down (Isaiah 5:5).

"Vineyard" here signifies the Lord's church, which is called a spiritual church; "to take away its hedge, and break down its wall," signifies to falsify and thus destroy the truths that defend the church; "the hedge and the wall about the vineyard" have a similar signification as "the wall and the bulwarks about Jerusalem;" "to eat up and trample down the vineyard" signifies to lay waste the church, so that no truth and good can spring up, and thus to destroy it.

[8] In Jeremiah:

Many shepherds have destroyed My vineyard, they have trampled down My field, they have made the field of desire a wilderness of solitude (Jeremiah 12:10).

Here, too, the "vineyard," like "field," signifies the Lord's church; "to destroy," "to trample down," and "to make a wilderness of solitude" signifies to so destroy that nothing of the good and truth of the church remains. In Isaiah:

Our enemies have trampled down our ¹ sanctuary (Isaiah 63:18).

"Enemies" signify the evils of life; "to trample down the sanctuary" signifies to destroy the truths of doctrine from the Word, and this also by means of the corporeal-sensual, for all who are in evils of life are corporeal-sensual.

[9] In David:

The enemy pursueth my soul and overtaketh it, and trampleth down my life to the earth, and maketh my glory to dwell in the dust (Psalms 7:5).

Here, too, "enemy" signifies evil, in general the devil, that is, hell, from which evil comes; and "to trample down the life to the earth and make glory to dwell in the dust" signifies to destroy by means of the corporeal-sensual all truths of heaven and the church; for these constitute spiritual life, and are signified by "glory;" "dust," too, is predicated of the corporeal-sensual, and this is also meant by "walking upon the belly and eating dust," as is here and there said of the serpent.

[10] "To trample down" has a similar signification in the following passages. In Isaiah:

I will make the hypocritical nation to be trampled down like the clay of the streets (Isaiah 10:6).

In Micah:

The enemy of Jehovah shall be for a trampling down like the mire of the streets (Mic. Micah 7:10).

In Zechariah:

They shall be as the mighty ones trampling down the mire of the streets in the war, and they shall fight because Jehovah is with them, and they shall make ashamed them that ride upon horses (Zechariah 10:5).

In Malachi:

Then thou shalt ² trample down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I am making (Malachi 4:3).

In Isaiah:

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, they shall be trampled down under the feet (Isaiah 28:3).

In the same:

I have trampled down the peoples in My anger, and made them drunk in My wrath, and I have made their victory to descend to the earth (Isaiah 63:6).

In David:

Through Thee will we push down our adversaries; in Thy name will we trample them down that rise up against us (Psalms 44:5).

In the same:

God will trample down our adversaries (Psalms 60:12; 108:13).

"To trample down" in these passages also signifies to destroy, which is done by those who are corporeal-sensual, for those who are such "trample down" all things of heaven and the church, for they are in what is lowest, and their thoughts cannot be elevated by the Lord, for they themselves let them down to the earth, and there they lick the dust. Such are all those that deny the Divine. For all the evils that a man has from birth have their seat in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual; consequently unless he suffers himself to be elevated out of them by the Lord, which is effected by Divine means, which are the truths and goods of faith and love, or by the truths and goods of doctrine and life, he remains in his evils, which are implanted in his natural and in his corporeal-sensual, and then he tramples down the celestial and spiritual things belonging to heaven and the church.

[11] "To tread upon the lion, the adder, serpents, and scorpions," means not only to destroy the evils and falsities that are signified by these, but also not to be hurt by them; this is meant in David:

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample down (Psalms 91:13).

In Luke:

Behold I give you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, that nothing may by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

This is so said in the Word because those who are in the hells appear before the eyes of good spirits and angels sometimes in the forms of various beasts and serpents, according to the kind of evil and of falsity therefrom in which they are; their thoughts themselves, when they go forth from the intention of their will, present such appearances. Exhalations from their evils and falsities continually breathe forth through the lands that are over these hells, or by which these hells are covered; so that to walk upon such places is dangerous to those who are only natural, and still more to those who are corporeal-sensual; for an exhalation arises therefrom, and a contagion affects those who walk there. But those who are led by the Lord may safely tread upon that earth without infection or infestation, because the interiors that are of their mind, or of their thought and affection, are elevated by the Lord above their corporeal-sensual, which corresponds to the soles of the feet. This makes clear what is meant, in a strict sense, by "treading upon the lion, the adder, the serpents, and the scorpions without being hurt by them," also why it is so said in the Word. But what is signified by a "lion" and by "serpents and scorpions" has been told and shown elsewhere.

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581. For their tails were like serpents, and had heads, signifies that from sensual knowledges [scientifica] which are fallacies, they reason craftily. This is evident from the signification of "tails," here, the tails of horses, as being knowledges [scientifica] which are called sensual because they are the ultimates of the understanding (See above, n. 559); from the signification of "serpent," as being the craftiness of the sensual man (of which presently); and from the signification of "having heads," as meaning to reason by means of such knowledges; for the "head" signifies intelligence, therefore "to have a head" signifies to be intelligent. To reason by means of such knowledges is meant, because the "head," in reference to the sensual man, signifies knowledge [scientia] and fatuous thought therefrom (See above, n. 577), and accordingly also reasonings by means of sensual knowledges. From this it can be seen that "the tails of the horses were like serpents, and had heads," signifies that from sensual knowledges which are fallacies they reason craftily. These are called fallacies because sensual knowledges become fallacies when man reasons from them concerning spiritual things; as for example, that dignities and wealth are real blessings; that glory, such as belongs to the great in the world, is that in which heavenly blessedness consists; and that the Lord desires adoration from man for His own glory, and other like things; these are fallacies when applied to things spiritual, since the sensual man thinks in this way, and cannot know otherwise because he is not endowed with intelligence.

[2] That "serpents" signify in the Word the sensual man in respect to craftiness and in respect to prudence, can be seen from the following passages. In Moses:

The serpent was more crafty than any wild beast of the field which Jehovah God had made (Genesis 3:1).

"Serpent" here does not mean a serpent, but the sensual man, and in a general sense the sensual itself, which is the ultimate of the human understanding; "the man and his wife" signify the Most Ancient Church, which fell away when the men of that church began to reason from sensual knowledges [scientifica] respecting Divine things, which is signified by "eating of the tree of knowledge;" their craftiness in reasoning respecting Divine things from the sensual is described by the reasoning of the serpent with Adam's wife, by which they were deceived. The serpent is said to have been "more crafty than any wild beast of the field," because it is poisonous and its bite is therefore deadly, and because it hides itself in lurking places. "Poison" signifies craft and deceit, and therefore the "bite" of the serpent signifies deadly hurt; and the lurking places from which it bites, and in which it conceals itself, signify craftiness.

[3] It is to be known that all beasts signify affections such as are in man, and "serpents" signify the affections of the sensual man, for the reason that they creep on the belly upon the ground as does the sensual of man, for this is in the lowest place, and creeps as it were upon the ground beneath all the other faculties. Moreover, sensual men in the spiritual world dwell in the lower parts, and cannot be elevated towards the higher parts, since they are in externals, and from these they judge and form conclusions respecting everything. Again, the evil who are in the hells are mostly sensual, and many of them crafty; when, therefore, they are looked at from the light of heaven they appear like serpents of various kinds; and this is why the devil is called a "serpent." The infernals are also crafty because evil conceals in itself all craftiness and malice, as good does all prudence and wisdom. (On this see the work on Heaven and Hell 576-581, where The Malice and Wicked Arts of Infernal Spirits are treated of.)

[4] This, then, is why the devil or hell is called "a serpent" in the following passages. In Revelation:

The dragon, the old serpent, the devil and Satan, which seduceth the whole world (Revelation 12:9, 14, 15; 20:2).

In David:

They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent; adder's poison is under their lips (Psalms 140:3);

which signifies their crafty and delusive deception. In the same:

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent (Psalms 58:4).

In Job:

He shall suck the poison of asps; the viper's tongue shall slay him (Job 20:16)

And in Isaiah:

They hatched adder's eggs, and wove spider's webs; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when one is crushed there breaketh out a viper (Isaiah 59:5).

This is said of evil men, who by deceit and craft seduce others in spiritual things; the hidden evils to which they allure by their craftiness are signified by "adder's eggs, which they are said to hatch;" their deceitful falsities are signified by "the spider's webs which they weave;" the deadly hurt when they are received is signified by "he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when one is crushed there breaketh out a viper."

[5] Because the Pharisees were such they are called by the Lord:

Serpents, a generation of vipers (Matthew 23:33).

That the craftiness and malice of such can do no harm to those whom the Lord protects is signified by the following in Isaiah:

The suckling shall play on the hole of the adder, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the basilisk's den (Isaiah 11:8).

The "suckling" and the "weaned child" signify those who are in the good of innocence, that is, those who are in love to the Lord; and "the hole of the adder" and the "basilisk's den" mean the hells in which are deceitful and crafty spirits, and the entrances into these appear like gloomy holes, and within they are like dens.

[6] That the craft and malice of infernal spirits can do no harm to those whom the Lord protects is signified also by these words of the Lord:

That the disciples would have power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19).

Also that they would have power to take up serpents, and to drink any deadly thing, and it would not hurt them (Mark 16:18).

"To tread on serpents" signifies to despise and make light of the deceits, craft, and wicked arts of the infernal crew; therefore it is added, "and over all the power of the enemy;" "the enemy" is that crew, and "his power" its craftiness.

[7] The malice and craftiness of infernal spirits, who, taken together, are called "the devil" and "Satan," are also meant by "serpents" in the following passages. In Moses:

Jehovah God led thee through the great and fearful wilderness of the serpent, the fiery serpent, and the scorpion (Deuteronomy 8:15).

The journeyings of the sons of Israel in the wilderness represented and thence signified the temptations of the faithful; the infestations at such times from the hells by evil spirits and genii are signified by "serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions."

[8] In Isaiah:

Rejoice not, O Philistia, all of thee, because the rod that smiteth thee is broken; for from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, whose fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent (Isaiah 14:29).

"Philistia" signifies faith separate from charity; the misleading of many by the sophistries by which that faith is confirmed is signified by "from the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, whose fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." In Jeremiah:

Behold I send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there shall be no charm, and they shall bite you (Jeremiah 8:17).

The voice thereof shall go like that of a serpent (Jeremiah 46:22).

In Amos:

Although they hide themselves ¹ before My eyes in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent to bite them (Amos 9:3).

Craftiness is signified also in Isaiah by:

Leviathan the crooked serpent (Isaiah 27:1).

[9] That "serpents" signify craftiness, and also the prudence with sensual men, is evident from the words of the Lord in Matthew:

Be ye prudent as serpents and simple as doves (Matthew 10:18).

Those who are in good are called "prudent," and those who are in evil are called "crafty," for prudence is of truth from good, and craftiness is of falsity from evil; and as this was said to those who were in good, "serpents" here mean prudence.

[10] Because the craftiness of the evil is diabolical those who are in it are said "to eat the dust." In Moses:

It was said to the serpent, Be thou accursed above all beasts, and above all the wild beasts of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3:14).

In Isaiah:

Dust shall be the serpent's bread (Isaiah 65:25).

And in Micah:

They shall lick the dust like a serpent (Micah 7:17);

"dust" signifying what is damned, and "to go upon the belly" signifying the sensual, which is the ultimate of life in man; and as this is the ultimate of life, it is in no intelligence or wisdom, but in craftiness and cunning, which are contrary to intelligence and wisdom.

[11] In Moses:

Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow serpent on the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider ² shall fall backwards (Genesis 49:17).

What this prophecy respecting Dan signifies no one can know unless he knows what is signified by a "horse" and its "heels," also by a "serpent;" a "horse" signifies the understanding of truth, and a "rider" intelligence; a "serpent" signifies the sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life; "the heels of a horse" signify truths in ultimates, which are sensual knowledges; that the sensual by means of reasonings from fallacies, does harm to and leads astray the understanding is signified by "the serpent biteth the horse's heels and his rider shall fall backwards." This is said of Dan, because the tribe named from him was the last of the tribes, and thence signified the last things (ultimates) of truth and good, consequently the ultimates of the church (See Arcana Coelestia 1710, 3923, 6396, 10335, where this prophecy is explained).

[12] The sensual, which is the ultimate of the intellectual life, is signified also by:

The stretched-serpent (Isaiah 27:1; Job 26:13);

also by:

The serpent into which the rod of Moses was changed (Exodus 4:3, 4; 7:9-12).

(See Arcana Coelestia 6949, 7293.) Again, sensual things which are the ultimates of man's life are signified by:

The fiery serpents sent among the people who wished to return to Egypt (Numbers 21:6);

while the healing of the bite of such serpents by the Lord's Divine sensual is signified by:

The brazen serpent set upon a standard, by looking upon which they revived (Numbers 21:5-9).

The expression, the Lord's Divine sensual, is used, because the Lord when He was in the world glorified, that is, made Divine, His whole Human even to its ultimates, as can be seen from the fact that He left nothing in the sepulcher, and that He said to the disciples:

That He hath bones and flesh, which a spirit doth not have (Luke 24:39, 40).

The ultimate sensual, which was also glorified or made Divine by the Lord, is signified by that "brazen serpent" set upon a standard, respecting which the Lord Himself thus spake in John:

As Moses lifted up the serpent, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life (John 3:14, 15).

The Lord was represented before the Israelitish and Jewish people by such a sign, because they were merely sensual, and the sensual man in looking to the Lord is unable to elevate his thought beyond and above the sensual; for everyone looks to the Lord according to the elevation of his understanding, the spiritual man looking to the Divine rational, and so on. This makes evident that "the brazen serpent" signifies also the sensual, but the glorified or Divine sensual of the Lord.

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