9081. If the ox shall strike with the horn a manservant, or a maidservant. That this signifies if the affection of evil shall destroy truth or good in the natural, is evident from the signification of “manservant,” as being truth in the natural (see n. 3019, 3020, 5305, 7998); and from the signification of “maidservant,” as being the affection of truth therein (n. 1895, 2567, 3835, 3849, 8993, 8994); and from the signification of “striking with the horn,” as being to destroy. “To strike with the horn” is said in the Word of the destruction of falsity by the power of truth; and in the opposite sense, of the destruction of truth by the power of falsity, and this for the reason that by “a horn” is signified the power of truth from good, and the power of falsity from evil (see n. 2832); as in Ezekiel:

Ye thrust with side and with shoulder, and with your horns ye strike all the weak ones (Ezekiel 34:21);

speaking of those who with all their force and power destroy the truths and goods of the church by means of fallacious reasonings from things of sense; “to thrust with side and with shoulder” denotes with all force and power (n. 1085, 4931-4937). From this it is plain why “striking with the horn” is spoken of in Moses:

To the firstborn of his ox, honor is his; and his horns are the horns of the unicorn; with them he shall strike the peoples together unto the ends of the earth (Deuteronomy 33:17).

These words are in the prophecy of Moses about Joseph, where by “Joseph” in the internal sense is meant the Lord as to the Divine spiritual, and in the representative sense His spiritual kingdom; “the horns of the unicorn” denote the things which belong to power from the good and the truth of faith; to “strike the peoples” denotes to destroy falsities by means of truths; “unto the ends of the earth” denotes on all sides where the church is.

In David:

Thou art my very king, O God, through Thee will we strike with the horn our enemies (Psalms 44:4-5).

“To strike with the horn our enemies” here also denotes to destroy falsities through the power of the truth and good of faith. Who cannot see that in these passages no mention would have been made of “striking with the horn” as done by men, except from the signification of “horn,” as being power?

3020. Who administered all that he had. That this signifies the offices of the natural man is evident from the signification of “administering,” and indeed of “administering all things,” as being to discharge offices or duties. (That the natural man in respect to the rational, or what is the same, the external man in respect to the internal, is like the administrator in a house, may be seen above, n. 1795.) All things that are in man are as one household (that is, as one family) in this respect, that there is one who fills the office of master of the house, and others who fill that of servants. The rational mind itself is that which disposes all things as master of the house, and arranges them in order by influx into the natural mind; but it is the natural mind that ministers and is the administrator.

[2] As the natural mind is distinct from the rational mind and is in a degree below it, and as it also acts as if from what is its own, it is called relatively a “servant the elder of the house,” and it is said to administer all the things in itself that belong to it. That the natural mind is distinct from the rational, and is in a lower degree, and is as if in what is its own, may be seen from the things within it, and from its offices. The things which are therein are all memory-knowledges, thus also all knowledges of every kind whatever; in a word, they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the outer or corporeal memory (concerning which see n. 2471, 2480). To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty, which is the interior sensuous with man, and which is in the greatest vigor with children; and in the first age of adolescence; to the same mind belong also all natural affections that man has in common with brute animals; all of which shows what its offices are.

[3] But the rational mind is more internal. The knowledges in it are not open before man, but while he lives in the body are imperceptible; for they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the interior memory (concerning which see n. 2470-2474, 2489, 2490). To this mind also belongs all the thinking faculty that is perceptive of what is equitable and just, and of what is true and good; also all spiritual affections, which are properly human, and by which man is distinguished from the brute animals. From these things this mind flows into the natural mind, and excites the things that are therein, and views them with a kind of sight, and in this manner judges and forms conclusions. That these two minds are distinct is clearly evident from the fact that with many persons the natural mind bears rule over the rational mind; or what is the same, the external man over the internal man; and that it does not bear rule but serves with those only who are in the good of charity, that is, who suffer themselves to be led by the Lord.