8990. 'And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl' means a representative sign of obedience. This is clear from the meaning of 'ear' as obedience, dealt with in 2542, 3869, 4551, 4652-4660; and from the meaning of 'piercing it with an awl' - that is to say, onto the door or onto the doorpost - as affixing, or at this point pledging forever, since it refers to obedience; and this is why the words follow, 'he shall serve him forever', that is, be obedient to him forever. From this it is evident that his master's piercing his ear with an awl, fixing it to the door or to the doorpost, is representative of obedience.

[2] The implications of all this may become clear from matters stated previously, where it has been shown that those imbued solely with truths and not with complementary good, that is, with faith and not with charity, are not free but slaves. Those whose actions spring from good or charity are free. They act from themselves; for actions that spring from good or charity spring from the heart, that is, from the will, and so from what is a person's own, since what exists in a person's will is his own and a deed springing from the will is said to go out of the heart. But those who are imbued solely with the truths of faith and not with the good of charity are slaves in comparison. They do not act from themselves since they have no good within themselves for actions to spring from; instead good is outside them, and they base their actions on it as often as they call it to mind. Those who stay like this through to the end of their lives remain permanently in this state after death. They cannot be brought to a state in which their actions spring from charitable affection, that is, from good; they can act only in obedience. In the Grand Man, which is heaven, they constitute those parts that serve more internal ones, like membranes and skins, 8977, 8980.

[3] All this shows what the situation is with faith alone, that is, with those who doctrinally place faith first and the good of charity second, indeed last. Those who place them in this order in the actual lives they lead are 'Hebrew slaves' in the representative sense; but those who place charity first, in the actual lives they lead, are free or 'the children of Israel' in the representative sense. From all this one may also conclude what the situation is with those who make salvation rest entirely on the truths of faith and not at all on the good of charity, that is to say, not at all on the actual life they lead. One may conclude that they cannot enter heaven; for good reigns in heaven, not truth without good, and truth is not truth, nor is faith faith, except with those imbued with good

[4] That his master's piercing his ear with an awl, fixing it to the door, is representative of obedience is also evident from the consideration that fixing his ear to the door means causing him to attend to the things commanded by his master who is in the room, that is, to hear him at all times and obey his instructions. At this point the things which good wills and commands are meant in the spiritual sense, for spiritual good is represented by the slave's master, 8981, 8986. Since 'the ear' means the hearing of obedience, there flows into human speech from an origin in the spiritual world the expression to tweak the ear, which stands for causing a person to pay attention and remember, and in like manner the expressions to hear and to hearken to someone, which stands for obeying him. For the inner meaning that very many words possess has sprung from correspondences from the spiritual world, as with expressions such as spiritual light and being enlightened by it which people use when speaking about matters of faith, and also spiritual fire and being animated by it when speaking about matters of love.

[5] The reason why piercing the ear was done with an awl was that 'an awl' has the same meaning as a pin or peg, namely affixing and joining onto, and in the spiritual sense pledging something. But an awl was a tool used by a servant, and therefore it served to represent the pledge of everlasting obedience by a slave. The meaning of 'a pin' or 'a peg' as affixing and joining onto is clear from the places where this object is mentioned, as in Isaiah 22:23; 33:20; 41:7; 54:2; Jeremiah 10:4; Exodus 27:19; 38:31; Numbers 3:37; 4:32.

8977. 'If he comes in his body' means truth without delight. This is clear from the meaning of 'body' as truth by itself, thus truth without its delight; for 'body' is used here to mean a slave by himself without a woman, that is, without delight, since a woman linked to a slave is delight joined to truth, as will become evident from what follows below. The situation with this arcanum is that members of the external Church, who were represented by 'Hebrew slaves', are those who learn truth not because of any delight in it, only because it is the truth that is taught by the Church and is the means by which, they believe, they can be saved. This belief is what drives them to learn and know it. These are the ones who are meant in the internal sense by slaves who 'come in their body and go out in their body'. With them no more than the strengthening of truth is accomplished. In the next life such people are at the entrance to heaven and not actually in heaven; they are called skin spirits because they correspond in the Grand Man to the skin, 5553-5559.

[2] But those imbued with truth to which delight has been joined are the ones who are meant here in the internal sense by slaves who come with a woman; for 'woman' means good when 'man' means truth. Here however delight is meant, since this exists in place of good in a member of the external Church. The good which such a person possesses does not spring from a spiritual origin but from a natural origin, for it savours of a delight to do the truth in life and to teach it for the sake of gain or important position, consequently for a selfish reason. This is why the word 'delight' is used and not 'good'. To outward appearance it does indeed seem like good; but because it is natural good, that is, has a worldly origin, not a heavenly one, it is called delight.

[3] Good that springs from a spiritual origin however is meant in the internal sense by the woman whom a master gives to his slave. But it cannot be joined [to truth]; and that was why it was stipulated that when the slave went out the woman was to be the master's, as also were her sons and daughters. For spiritual good is good not for the sake of gain or important positions but for the sake of the Church and the spiritual welfare of the neighbour. Such good cannot be joined to those confined to the outward things of the Church, since it is the genuine good of charity, springing out of love and affection. Those confined to the outward things of the Church cannot have any affection for the truths of faith without putting themselves first and the Church second. Though such people can indeed act in accordance with truths, thus can do good, they do not act from affection but out of obedience. These are the ones who are meant in the internal sense by those who wish to remain slaves forever.

[4] These are the arcana which the internal sense contains in these regulations regarding slaves, which can be grasped only by those imbued with the good of charity, and not at all by those imbued with the truth of faith without that good. The reason why is that those imbued with the good of charity are in the light of heaven, and from that light see things that exist in the light of the world. But those imbued with the truth of faith and not with the good of charity are in the light of the world, from which light things that exist in the light of heaven cannot be seen; for the light of heaven shines above, that is, on an inward level, whereas the light of the world shines below or on an outward level. Things on a lower or more external level can be seen from a higher or more internal one, but not the reverse; for heaven can flow into the world, but not the world into heaven, 3721, 5119, 5259, 5779, 6322.