550. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan. (12:9) This symbolizes those people meant by the dragon now turned away from the Lord to themselves and from heaven to the world, and so whose focus on their person made them sensual, who could not help but be caught up in the evils of their lusts and the resulting falsities, and who, in consequence of their separation from the Lord and heaven, became devils and satanic spirits.

Just who are meant by the dragon may be seen in no. 537. They are people who make God three entities and the Lord two, and put the Ten Commandments among works that do not lead to any salvation, and who are therefore called "that serpent of old," "the Devil and Satan." A serpent symbolizes someone whose carnal nature has made him sensual (no. 424), who has turned away from the Lord to himself and from heaven to the world. The Devil symbolizes people caught up in the evils attending lusts, and Satan people caught up for that reason in falsities (nos. 97, 153 fin., 856, 857 ¹ ).

Of such a character also was the serpent that seduced Eve and Adam, as is apparent from its description and the curse on it (Genesis 3:1-5, 14-15).

The dragon here is called the Devil and Satan as though the two were one individual, but it is called these because people in hell are all devils or satanic spirits, and consequently hell in its entirety is so labeled.

Fußnoten: