10652. And his daughters commit whoredom after their gods, and make thy sons commit whoredom after their gods. That this signifies in this manner the profanation of good and of truth, is evident from the signification of “committing whoredom,” as being unlawful conjunction (of which above, n. 10648); from the signification of “his daughters,” or the daughters of the inhabitant of the land, as being the affections of evil; from the signification of “their gods,” as being the falsities of the affections of evil conjoined with truths, for by “their gods” are meant the gods of the daughters of the inhabitant of the land conjoined with sons of the Israelitish nation (see just above at n. 10651), which conjunction is the profanation of good; and from the signification of “making thy sons commit whoredom after their gods,” as being the conjunction of truth with falsities, which is the profanation of truth. (That “gods” denote falsities, see n. 4402, 4544, 7873, 8867; and that “sons” denote truths, n. 489, 491, 533, 1147, 3373, 4257, 9807, 10490.)

[2] These things are so said because the first conjunction of the affections of evil with truths, which is signified by “taking the daughters of the inhabitant of the land for thy sons,” is not as yet profanation; but the second conjunction is profanation, because this takes place when evil is applied to truth, and truth to evil, which is done by means of a wrong interpretation of truth, and the application of it to evil, and thus by the insertion of the one into the other. From this, truth no longer remains truth; but is killed and profaned.

[3] This profanation is also signified by “the whoredom of the people with the daughters of Moab,” of which we read in Moses:

Israel settled in Shittim, where the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, and bowed themselves down to their gods. Therefore Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up to Jehovah before the sun. And the people were smitten; and there died from this plague twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25:1-2, 4-5, 9).

By “Moab” are signified those who adulterate goods (n. 2468, 8315); and by his “daughters,” the affections of this evil; and by “whoredom with them,” profanation; consequently the penalty was the hanging of the heads of the people before the sun, and the death of twenty-four thousand. For the sun of the world denotes the love of self (n. 10584); “hanging before it” denotes the total extinction of heavenly good; and “twenty-four thousand” denotes all the truths and goods of truth in the complex, in like manner as “twelve thousand” (n. 2089, 3913, 7973); their death denotes the extinction of all truths. This takes place with those who profane.

10489. Pass ye through and return from gate to gate in the camp. That this signifies wheresoever there is anything open from what is internal into what is external, is evident from the signification of “passing through and returning,” as being to survey and look around from one end to the other; from the signification of “gate,” as being an opening (of which above, n. 10483); thus “from gate to gate” denotes wheresoever there is anything open; and from the signification of “the camp,” as being hell (of which also above, n. 10483), thus also what is external; for what is external separate from what is internal is hell with man. From this it is evident that by “pass ye through and return from gate to gate in the camp” is signified that they must survey and look around to see wheresoever there is anything open from what is internal into what is external. How the case herein is shall be told in the following article. That what is external separate from what is internal in man is hell, is because what is internal in him is heaven (as shown above, n. 10472); consequently what is external, when separated from heaven, is hell, as can be seen further from the fact that with those who are in external things separate from internal there reign infernal loves, which are the loves of self and of the world. Moreover, the man whose external is separated from what is internal is actually in hell, although he is unaware of this while he lives in the world.