2382. 'And the men who were at the door of the house' means rational concepts and matters of doctrine deriving from these by means of which violence is offered to good flowing from charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'the men' as rational concepts, dealt with in 158, 1007; from the meaning of 'a door' as something that introduces or affords access, which leads either to truth or to good, and so means something to do with doctrine, dealt with above in 2356; and from the meaning of 'a house' as good that flows from charity, dealt with in various places. The subject here being those who 'came near to break down the door', that is, who tried to destroy the good of charity as well as the Lord's Divinity and His Holiness, 2376, rational concepts that are evil and derivative matters of doctrine that are false are meant, by means of which violence is offered to the good of charity.

1007. 'At the hand of man' means from his entire will, and 'at the hand of brother man' from his entire understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'man' (homo), for the essential element and life of a person is his will - indeed the character of the will determines that of the person; and from the meaning of 'brother man' (vir), for where the understanding resides in man it is called 'brother man', as shown already in 367. Whether the understanding residing there is true, spurious, or false, it is still called 'brother man'. In fact the understanding is called 'a man' (vir), 158, 265, and 'the brother' of the will, 367. The reason why a defiled will and a defiled understanding are here called 'a man' (homo) and 'brother man' (vir) is that the subject here is profanation, the mere mention and consequent representation of which is not tolerated in heaven but instantly rejected with disgust. This is why such mild expressions are employed here. The sense of the words of the verse can be taken two different ways so to speak, so as to prevent those in heaven knowing that this verse contains such matters.