2056. And the uncircumcised male. That this signifies one who is not in the truth of faith, is evident from the signification of a “male,” as being the truth of faith (see above, n. 2046); the “uncircumcised male” therefore here signifies one who is not in the truth of faith, and who is thereby in what is false. That is said to be “uncircumcised” which obstructs and defiles, as before said. When said of the “male,” it is that which obstructs and defiles truth; and in like manner when it is said of any other subject, it signifies the darkening and contamination of that subject. Thus an “uncircumcised ear” is mentioned in Jeremiah:

Upon whom shall I speak and testify, and they will hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken; behold the Word of Jehovah is become unto them a reproach; they do not desire it (Jeremiah 6:10).

Their “ear being uncircumcised” means that there was no hearkening, and that the Word was a reproach unto them.

[2] Moreover the verse before us treats of those who are within the church, and who are not only in falsity, but also in the impurity of the loves of self and of the world; for these things are said in continuation of what was said before. It is therefore said “the uncircumcised male, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin,” and thus the meaning is falsity conjoined with impurity of life. How great a danger of eternal damnation these are incurring may be seen from what was said above (n. 2051). These words especially signify those within the church who profane the goods and truths of faith, of whom it is said, “that soul shall be cut off from his people;” for these can commit profanation, but not those who are outside the church (as has been shown in Part First, n. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059).

1008. Will I require the soul of man. That this means to avenge profanation, is evident from what has been said in the preceding verse and in this verse, for the subject is the eating of blood, by which is signified profanation. What profanation is, few know, and still less what its punishment is in the other life. Profanation is manifold. He who utterly denies the truths of faith does not profane them, as do not the nations which live outside of the church and of knowledges. But he profanes them who knows the truths of faith, and especially he who acknowledges them, bears them in his mouth, preaches them, and persuades others to adopt them, and yet lives in hatred, revenge, cruelty, robbery, and adultery, which he confirms in himself by many things that he extracts from the Word, perverting them and thus immersing them in these foul evils. He it is who profanes. And it is such profanity chiefly that brings death to a man, as may be evident from this, that in the other life what is profane and what is holy are entirely separated-what is profane in hell and what is holy in heaven. When such a man comes into the other life, in every idea of his thought, just as in the life of the body, what is holy adheres to what is profane. He cannot there bring forth a single idea of what is holy without what is profane being seen adhering, as clearly as in daylight, there is such perception of another’s ideas in the other life. Thus in everything he thinks profanation is manifest, and since heaven abhors profanation, he cannot but be thrust down into hell.

[2] The nature of ideas is known to hardly anyone. It is supposed that they are something simple; but in each idea of thought there are things innumerable, variously conjoined so as to make a certain form, and hence pictured image of the man, which is all perceived and even seen in the other life. Merely for example-when the idea of a place occurs, whether of a country, a city, or a house, then an idea and image of all things the man has ever done there comes forth, and they are all seen by angels and spirits; or when the idea of a person whom he has held in hatred, then the idea comes forth of all things which he has thought, spoken, and done against him. And so it is with all other ideas; when they come up, all things in general and particular that he has conceived and impressed on himself in regard to the subject in question lie open to view. As when the idea of marriage arises, if he has been an adulterer, all filthy and obscene things of adultery, even of thought about it, come forth; likewise all things with which he has confirmed adulteries—whether from things of sense, from things of reason, or from the Word—and how he has adulterated and perverted the truths of the Word.

[3] Moreover, the idea of one thing flows into the idea of another and colors it, as when a little black is dropped into water and the whole volume of water is darkened. Thus is the spirit known from his ideas, and, wonderful to say, in every idea of his there is an image or likeness of himself, which when presented to view is so deformed as to be horrible to see. From this it is evident what is the state of those who profane holy things, and what is their appearance in the other life. But it can never be said that those profane holy things who in simplicity have believed what is said in the Word, even if they have believed what was not true; for things are said in the Word according to appearances, as may be seen above n. 589).