7523. 'And there will be on man and on beast' means the products of interior and exterior evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'man' as the affection for good, and in the contrary sense as the desire for evil; and 'beast' is similar in meaning. But when 'man' and 'beast' are mentioned together, 'man means interior affection or desire and 'beast' exterior; regarding both, see 7424. Interior good or else interior evil, which is meant by 'man', is that connected with intentions or ends in view, for intentions or ends in view are at a person's core, whereas exterior good or else exterior evil, which is meant by 'beast', is that connected with thought and consequently, if nothing stands in the way, with action. Exterior good is meant by 'beast' because a person is in respect of his external or natural man no different from a beast; for he is endowed with similar desires and also cravings, as well as appetites and senses. And interior good is meant by 'man because it is in respect of his internal or spiritual man that a person is a human being, on which internal level he is endowed with affections for what is good and true such as exist with the angels in heaven, and because he controls his natural or animal man, which is 'a beast', by means of that internal man. Regarding the meaning of 'beast' as the affection for good and in the contrary sense the desire for evil, see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 2179, 2180, 3218, 3519, 5198.

[2] These things are what are meant by 'man and beast' in the following places too: In Jeremiah,

My anger and My wrath have been poured out on this place, on man and on beast. Jeremiah 7:20

In the same prophet,

I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast; they will die of a great pestilence. Jeremiah 21:6.

In the same prophet,

It will make her land a desolation, so that none may dwell in it; both man and beast have scattered themselves, they have gone away. Jeremiah 50:3.

In Ezekiel,

When a land has sinned against Me by committing great transgression, I will cut off from it man and beast. Ezekiel 14:13, 19, 21.

In the same prophet,

I will stretch out My hand over Edom, and cut off from it man and beast, and make it a waste. Ezekiel 25:13.

In Zephaniah,

I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from the surface of the earth. Zephaniah 1:3.

[3] 'Man and beast' stands for interior and exterior good in the following places: In Jeremiah,

I have made the earth, man and beast, by My great strength. Jeremiah 27:5.

In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. Jeremiah 31:17.

In the same prophet,

A desolation will the earth be, so that man and beast are not there. Jeremiah 32:43.

In the same prophet,

In the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that have been devastated, there is no man and inhabitant, and there is no beast. Jeremiah 33:10; 51:62.

In David,

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgements a great deep; You preserve man and beast, O Jehovah. Psalms 36:6.

It was because 'man and beast' meant such things that the firstborn of the Egyptians died, not only of men but also of beasts, Exodus 12:29, and that the firstborn were consecrated [to Jehovah], not only of men but also of beasts, Numbers 18:15, and also that the king of Nineveh, following sacred religious practice, commanded that not only man but also beast should fast and also be clothed in sackcloth, Jonah 3:7-8.

3219. When angels are engaged in discussion about thoughts and ideas, and about influx, birds are seen at the same time in the world of spirits - the forms which the birds take being determined by the subject under discussion. This explains why birds in the Word mean rational concepts or things comprising thought, 40, 745, 776, 991. On one occasion birds came into view, and I saw that one was dark and ugly, two fine and beautiful. When I saw them, behold! certain spirits were there who then descended on me so violently as to send a tremor into my sinews and bones. I supposed that then, as had happened several times before, evil spirits were assailing me in an attempt to destroy me; but that was not so. When the tremor ceased and the spirits who had descended on me stopped moving, I spoke to them asking what it was all about. They said that they had fallen from a certain angelic community in which discussion was taking place about thoughts and influx, and that they had been of the opinion that the things which comprise thought flow in from without, that is to say, by way of the external senses, as is the appearance. But the angelic community in which they were present were of the opinion that it flowed from within. And because they themselves had been governed by falsity they had fallen from there. No one had cast them down, for angels do not cast anyone down from among themselves. It was owing to the falsity reigning in them that they had fallen from there. This had been the reason why it had happened. From this I was given to know that discussion in heaven about thoughts and influx is represented by birds - the discussion of those in whom falsity reigns by dark and ugly birds, but that of those who are governed by truth by fine and beautiful birds. I was at the same time told that all the ideas comprising thought enter into it from within, not from without, even though those ideas seem to do so. I was also told that it is contrary to order for what is posterior to flow into what is prior, or what is grosser into what is purer, and so for body to flow into soul.