7425. 'All the dust of the land became lice in the whole land of Egypt' means that those evils rose up from the things that were damned. This is clear from the meaning of 'the dust of the land' as that which is damned, dealt with above in 7418; from the meaning of 'lice' as evils, dealt with in 7419; and from the meaning of 'the land of Egypt' as the natural mind, also dealt with above, in 7420.

7419. 'And it will then be lice' means that evils will rise up from them. This is clear from the meaning of 'lice' as evils. But what evils these are and where they originate becomes clear from the correspondence of evils with such parasites. They are primarily evils on the level of the senses or utterly external level of a person's mind. This correspondence arises from the fact that lice live on the outside of the skin, among the dirt there and under scaly skin. The sensory level in those who have come to possess a knowledge of matters of belief yet lead a life of evil is also like this. When that knowledge is taken away from them, as happens to such persons in the next life, they are then mentally thick and stupid. They have appeared before me on several occasions; they are foul and repulsive. Molestations by evils are meant by the bitings of those parasites. This meaning of 'lice' cannot be substantiated from other places in the Word, for they are mentioned again only in David, where he refers to what took place in Egypt, Psalms 105:31.