7523. 'And there will be on man and on beast' means the products of interior and exterior evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'man' as the affection for good, and in the contrary sense as the desire for evil; and 'beast' is similar in meaning. But when 'man' and 'beast' are mentioned together, 'man means interior affection or desire and 'beast' exterior; regarding both, see 7424. Interior good or else interior evil, which is meant by 'man', is that connected with intentions or ends in view, for intentions or ends in view are at a person's core, whereas exterior good or else exterior evil, which is meant by 'beast', is that connected with thought and consequently, if nothing stands in the way, with action. Exterior good is meant by 'beast' because a person is in respect of his external or natural man no different from a beast; for he is endowed with similar desires and also cravings, as well as appetites and senses. And interior good is meant by 'man because it is in respect of his internal or spiritual man that a person is a human being, on which internal level he is endowed with affections for what is good and true such as exist with the angels in heaven, and because he controls his natural or animal man, which is 'a beast', by means of that internal man. Regarding the meaning of 'beast' as the affection for good and in the contrary sense the desire for evil, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198.

[2] These things are what are meant by 'man and beast' in the following places too: In Jeremiah,

My anger and My wrath have been poured out on this place, on man and on beast. Jeremiah 7:20

In the same prophet,

I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. Jeremiah 21:6.

In the same prophet,

It will make her land a desolation, so that none may dwell in it; both man and beast have scattered themselves, they have gone away. Jeremiah 50:3.

In Ezekiel,

When a land has sinned against Me by committing great transgression, I will cut off from it man and beast. Ezekiel 14:13, 19, 21.

In the same prophet,

I will stretch out My hand over Edom, and cut off from it man and beast, and make it a waste. Ezekiel 25:13.

In Zephaniah,

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the surface of the earth. Zephaniah 1:3.

[3] 'Man and beast' stands for interior and exterior good in the following places: In Jeremiah,

I have made the earth, man and beast, by My great strength. Jeremiah 27:5.

In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:17.

In the same prophet,

A desolation will the earth be, so that man and beast are not there. Jeremiah 32:43.

In the same prophet,

In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that have been devastated, there is no man and inhabitant, and there is no beast. Jeremiah 33:10; 51:62.

In David,

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgements a great deep; You preserve man and beast, O Jehovah. Psalms 36:6.

It was because 'man and beast' meant such things that the firstborn of the Egyptians died, not only of men but also of beasts, Exodus 12:29, and that the firstborn were consecrated [to Jehovah], not only of men but also of beasts, Numbers 18:15, and also that the king of Nineveh, following sacred religious practice, commanded that not only man but also beast should fast and also be clothed in sackcloth, Jonah 3:7-8.

719. 'The beast that is not clean' means evil affections. This is clear from what has been stated and shown already about clean beasts. The clean ones are so called because they are gentle, good, and useful. Those that are not clean are the opposite - savage, evil, and useless - of which there are genera and species. These in the Word are also portrayed as wolves, bears, foxes, pigs, and many others, which mean various evil desires and malicious intentions. In the present verse it is said that unclean beasts, or evil affections, were to be taken into the ark as well, for the following reason: The character of the member of this Church is being described here, specifically by means of the ark, and thus by the things that were in or rather had been brought into the ark, that is, the things that already resided with man prior to his being regenerated. Truths and goods resided with him already, which the Lord had supplied and granted prior to his regeneration, for without truths and goods no one can possibly be regenerated. Here the evils that resided with him are referred to and are meant by 'unclean beasts' that are mentioned. While a person is being regenerated evils are present that have to be dispersed, that is, broken down and modified by means of goods. For no evil with man, that of his own doing or that which is hereditary, can ever be dispersed so far as to be banished, but remains implanted for ever. Yet it is broken down and modified by means of goods from the Lord so as to be innocuous and not seen. This is an arcanum that is still unknown. It is the evils of man's own doing that are broken down and modified, rather than those which are hereditary - something else which is not known.