8910. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, and his manservant, and his maidservant, and his ox, and his ass, and anything that is thy neighbor’s. That this signifies that one must beware of the love of self and of the world, and thus lest the evils which are contained in the preceding commandments become of the will and so come forth, is evident from the signification of “coveting” [concupiscere], as being to will from an evil love. That “coveting” has this signification, is because all concupiscence is of some love; for nothing is coveted [concupiscitur] unless it is loved, and therefore concupiscence [or “coveting”] is the continuous of love, in this case of the love of self or of the world, and is as it were the life of its breath. For that which an evil love breathes is called “concupiscence,” but that which a good love breathes is called “desire.” Love itself belongs to the other part of the mind, which is called the will, for whatever a man loves he wills; but concupiscence belongs to both the will and the understanding, though it is properly of the will in the understanding. From all this it is evident whence it is that by the words, “thou shalt not covet the things that are thy neighbor’s,” is signified that one must beware lest they become of the will; for the things which become of the will are appropriated to the man, because the will is the man himself.
[2] It is believed in the world that the thought is the man; but there are two things which constitute the life of man, the understanding and the will. To the understanding belongs thought, and to the will the affection which is of love. Thought without the affection which is of love does not make anything of life with man; but thought from affection which is of love, thus understanding from will. That these two are distinct from each other is plain to everyone who reflects, from the fact that a man can understand and perceive that to be evil which he wills, and that to be good which he either wills or does not will; from which it is clear that the will is the man himself, but not the thought, except insofar as there passes into it something from the will. Hence it is that the things which enter into the thought of man, and not through the thought into the will, do not defile him; but the things which enter through the thought into the will. These things defile him because they are then appropriated to him, and become his; for the will, as already said, is the man himself. The things which become of the will are said to enter into his heart and to come forth therefrom; whereas the things which are only of the thought are said to enter into the mouth, but to go out through the belly into the draughts-according to the Lord’s words in Matthew:
Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which cometh forth out of the mouth, this defileth the man. Whatsoever entereth into the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught. But the things which come forth out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and these defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:11, 7-19).
[3] From these words, as from all His other words, it can be seen of what nature was the Lord’s speech, namely, that internal and spiritual things were meant, but that they were expressed by external or natural things, and this according to correspondences; for the mouth corresponds to the thought, as also all things that belong to the mouth, as the lips, the tongue, the throat; and the heart corresponds to the affection which is of love, thus to the will (that there is a correspondence of the heart with these, see n. 2930, 3313, 3883-3896, 7542). Consequently “to enter into the mouth” denotes to enter into the thought, and “to come forth out of the heart” denotes out of the will; “to go into the belly and to be cast out into the draught,” or privy, is to be cast into hell, for the belly corresponds to the way toward hell, and the draught or privy corresponds to hell; hell is also so called in the Word. From this it is plain what is signified by, “whatsoever entereth into the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the draught,” namely, that evil and falsity are injected into the thought of man from hell, and are rent back again thither. These things cannot defile the man, because they are sent back; for a man cannot stand apart from thinking evil, but from doing it. But so soon as he receives evil from the thought into the will, it then does not go out of him, but enters into him, and this is called “coming forth out of the heart.” The things which come forth thence defile him, because what a man wills goes forth into speech and into act, in so far as external bonds, which are fear of the law, of the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of life, do not forbid. From all this it is now evident that by “thou shalt not covet” is signified that one must beware lest evils become of the will, and so come forth.
[4] That concupiscence (or “coveting”) is of the will, this of the heart, is also evident from these words of the Lord in Matthew:
Ye have heard that it was said to them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that if anyone looketh on a strange woman so that he lusteth after [concupiscat] her, he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28);
by “lusting after” is here meant to will, and unless fears (which are external bonds) restrained, to do; hence it is said that “he who looketh on a woman so that he lusteth after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart.”
[5] The concupiscence of evil is also meant by “the right eye giving offence,” and the concupiscence of falsity by “the right hand giving offence,” in the Lord’s words also in Matthew:
If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it will be better for thee that one of thy members perish, and not thy whole body be cast into Gehenna. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it will be better for thee that one of thy members perish, and not thy whole body be cast into Gehenna (Matthew 5:29-30);
from these words it is again evident in what manner the Lord spake, namely, from the Divine, as everywhere else in the Word; thus that He expressed internal and heavenly things by external or natural things according to correspondences; here the affection of evil or the concupiscence thereof by “the right eye offending;” and the affection of falsity or the concupiscence thereof by the “right hand offending;” for the eye corresponds to faith, the left eye to the truth of faith, and the right eye to the good of faith, and in the opposite sense to the evil which is of faith; thus “the right eye offending” corresponds to the concupiscence thereof (n. 4403-4421, 4523-4534). But the hand corresponds to the power which is of truth, the right hand to the power of truth from good, and in the opposite sense to the power of falsity from evil, thus “the right hand offending” corresponds to the concupiscence thereof (n. 3091, 3563, 4931-4937, 8281). “Gehenna” denotes the hell of concupiscences. Everyone can see that in this passage by “the right eye” is not meant the right eye, nor is it meant that the eye should be plucked out; also that by “the right hand” is not meant the right hand, and that it is to be cut off; but that something else is meant, which cannot be known unless it is known what is signified by “the eye,” specifically by “the right eye,” also what by “the hand” and specifically by “the right hand,” and likewise what by “to give offence;” nor can it be known what is signified by these expressions except from the internal sense.
[6] As concupiscences are things that come from an evil will, thus from an evil heart, and out of the heart or the will come forth murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, according to the words of the Lord in Matthew 15:19, thus such things as are contained in the preceding commandments of the Decalogue, therefore it is said that by “not coveting those things which are the neighbor’s,” is signified that one must beware lest the evils which are contained in the preceding commandments become of the will, and so come forth. That by “not coveting those things which are the neighbor’s” is signified that one must beware of the love of self and of the world, is because all the evils of concupiscence spring from these loves as from their fountains (see n. 2045, 7178, 7255, 7366-7377, 7488, 8318, 8678).
