354. "Come and see," signifies attention and perception. This is evident from the signification of "coming" when anything is presented to be seen, as being to give attention; for in a spiritual sense, "to come" means to draw near with the sight, thus to give attention; all attention also is a presence of the sight in the object. It is evident also from the signification of "to see," as being perception, for "to see" in the Word signifies to understand (See above, n. 11, 260); here it signifies to perceive, because this was out of the inmost heaven, since what comes out of the inmost heaven is perceived, but what comes out of the middle heaven is understood, for the reason that the inmost heaven is in the good of love, but the middle heaven is in the truths therefrom, and all perception is from good, and all understanding is from truths. (On this see above, n. 307; what perception is, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 140.)

7353. 'And they will rise up and come into your house, and into your bedchamber' means that they will fill the mind, all the way through to its more internal parts. This is clear from the meaning of 'house' as a person's mind, dealt with in 3538, 4973, 5023; and from the meaning of 'bedchamber' as the more internal parts of the mind. The reason why 'bedchamber' means the more internal parts of the mind is that it is a more internal part of the house. The more internal parts are meant by 'chambers', and those that are even more internal by 'bedchambers', in the following places: In Isaiah,

Go away, O people, enter your bedchambers, and shut your door behind you. Hide yourself, so to speak, for a little moment, until the anger passes over. Isaiah 26:20.

In Ezekiel,

He said to me, Have you not seen, son of man, what the elders of the house ¹ of Israel do in the dark, each in the chambers of his own idol? Ezekiel 8:12.

In Moses,

Outside the sword will bereave and out of the chambers terror. Deuteronomy 31:25.

In the second Book of Kings,

Elisha the prophet, who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bed chamber. 2 Kings 6:12.

The ancients compared a person's mind to a house, and the inward parts of a person to chambers. The human mind is indeed like a house, for the things it contains are virtually as distinct from one another as the chambers within a house. Those at the centre are the inmost parts of the mind, while those to the sides are the more external parts there. The ancients compared the latter to forecourts, and the parts which were outside but adjoining parts more internal they compared to porticos.

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