8293. 'My soul will be filled' means delight. This is clear without explanation. The words 'my soul will be filled' are used because the chief delight of those in hell lies in doing harm to others, in some cases for no reason other than the delight gained in doing it, in other cases with a view to turning them into slaves, whom they then wish to treat cruelly. The fact that this kind of delight exists in the next life with people who lead a life of evil can be believed by scarcely anyone, including even those people themselves. For as long as they are in the world they are constrained by fears - of legal punishments, as well as of loss of position, wealth, reputation, and also life. These fears cause them at that time to refrain from evil deeds in their outward behaviour, as a result of which they imagine that they are not the kind of people they really are. But when they are released from having to think about possible loss of life, wealth, position, and reputation, as happens in the next life, and they are left to their own evil, the delight to do harm, which has lain hidden in the will and has emerged as often as they could remove those fears, reveals itself. That delight now constitutes their life, a life that is the life of hell.

4499. 'Each took his sword' means falsity and evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'a sword' as truth engaged in conflict and consequently the defence of truth, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict, and consequently the vastation of truth, dealt with in 2799. The reason why 'a sword' at this point also means evil is that Levi was implicated, who represented charity, and so good. When good is turned into evil it uses falsity from evil to fight with, in which case anything it does is evil.