9015. 'And anyone striking his father and his mother' means blaspheming the Lord and His kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'striking' as injuring by means of falsities, dealt with in 7136, 7146, 9007, but when used in reference to the Lord and His kingdom, blaspheming is meant by it; and from the meaning of 'father' as the Lord, and of 'mother' as His kingdom, dealt with in 8897, where the fourth commandment has been explained. That paragraph shows what 'honouring father and mother' is used to mean in the internal sense, namely loving the Lord and His kingdom, and therefore in the relative sense loving what is good and true. So also 'striking father and mother' in a relative sense means blaspheming what is good and true in the Church.

8897. 'Honour your father and your mother' means love for goodness and truth, in the highest sense for the Lord and His kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'honouring' as loving, for in the spiritual sense 'honour' is love, because in heaven one loves another, and in loving him also honours him since love is present within honour (honour without love there is rejected, indeed spurned, because it is devoid of life from good); from the meaning of 'father' as goodness, dealt with in 3703, 5581, 5902, 6050, 7833, 7834, and in the highest sense as the Lord in respect of Divine Goodness, 15, 1729, 2005, 2803, 3704, 7499, 8328 (the reason why 'Father' in the highest sense is the Lord is that He imparts new life to the person, so that this life may make that person a son and heir of His kingdom); and from the meaning of 'mother' as truth, dealt with in 3703, 5581, and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, thus His kingdom since Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord makes heaven. The reason why the Lord's Divine Truth makes heaven is that in the next life the Lord in respect of Divine Good is the Sun, and in respect of Divine Truth is the Light. This Divine Light radiating from the Lord as the Sun is what enlightens angelic minds and fills them with intelligence and wisdom, causing them to be angels of light. Divine Good is present within Divine Truth, even as heat from the sun is present within the light in springtime and summer in the world.